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Vol. 17, No. 20, Wednesday, April 13, 2022 www.LamontLeader.com
LAMONT HEALTH CARE ADDS 50% MORE SOLAR PANELS A new set of 50 solar panels brings the total number to 150 on the rooftop of the Lamont Health Care Centre. The panels were acquired after a successful application for the Faithful Footprints Grant from the United Church of Canada. Story on Page 6. Photo: Jana Semeniuk
Mundare community much closer to accepting Ukraine refugees BY JOHN MATHER Mundare will be getting a refugee family from Ukraine through the efforts of the Mundare Easter Basket Ukrainian Effort, but organizer Rudy Warawa told council Apr. 5, he couldn’t yet give any specific date for their arrival. “We’ve finalized a lot of the donation procedures,” he said. “We now have a mechanism to issue charitable tax receipts.” He said those cheques would be issued through the Ed Stelmach Foundation and then tagged for the Mundare Easter Basket Ukrainian Effort project. “That money would then come to the Town, which has a charitable designation and then transferred to the Easter Basket.” He added etransfers were possible. He told the council the organization had acquired a house in town which would be home to two refugee fami-
lies. “We’ve done some renovations, repairs and painting,” he said. “The agencies in Edmonton that will be responsible for allocating the refugees when they arrive still don’t have any specific information, so I can’t give any specifics.” When asked how many refugees the town might receive, Warawa said they had spots for about 25 for housing. “That’s including the lodge, one home which will house two moms with children, and a house we’ve been given the use of for a mom with two kids, and we have a house out in the country as well,” said Warawa. He did say those refugees all wouldn’t arrive at once but would be split into two stages. “Our biggest problems are there are no funds attached to these refugees,” he stated. “There is no provincial or federal support available right now. We are on our own for their welfare so in
the first stage we will only have the two moms with children.” He said if more funds were forthcoming they may be able to up the number accepted. He said the plans are to support the families for at least a year. The refugees are allowed to stay for up to three years after they arrive through a program set up by the federal government. “If they stay longer than that, hopefully they will find jobs and slowly be able to support themselves,” added Warawa. He said the group did have pledges to support the first arrivals for a year. He said there were six people on the organizing committee and they now had three volunteers providing information on the program at the Basilian Fathers Museum from 9-12 weekdays. “It’s been a real community effort,” he stated. The group is accepting clothing,
dishes and furniture for the refugees, but he did state that financial contributions would be a much better donation because then items that were necessary could be purchased for the refugees. He said they had had some fantastic offers from a few stores from as far away as Viking. “They have said when we need something come to the store and see if they have it and it's yours,” he said. “It’s been a very steep learning curve,” he added. He said several posters to inform the community of the program were torn down by unknown persons. He said one by the post office had been taken down but it and others had been replaced. Council passed a motion that they would accept donations from the Ed Stelmach Foundation and then forward them on to the program.
