Local 005 Game Wardens donate more than $12,000 to Children’s Wish Foundation
EDMONTON – The Alberta Game Warden Association announced today it has made a donation of more than $12,000 to the Alberta-N.W.T. Chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada.
The Game Wardens, most of them members of AUPE Local 005, strongly supported the effort to help the foundation achieve its goal of granting the wishes of children with high-risk life-threatening illnesses and at the same time show a gentler side to resource law enforcement officers, said Alberta Game Warden Association President Jason Hanson.
“We were very proud to support such a worthy cause,” Hanson said, explaining that the association decided last year to publish and sell 5,000 copies of a fund-raising calendar depicting kids in miniature Alberta Fish and Wildlife Officers’ uniforms carrying out “work type duties.”
The donation to the Children’s Wish Foundation came from sales of the Wardens for Wishes calendar, plus advertising and sponsorships, Hanson said. “We were very happy that our supporters recognized that their advertising dollars would be well spent creating such a marketable and heartfelt product.”
In addition to the pictures of kids at “work,” Hanson said, the 2006 calendar included photos of wildlife, information on being fire-smart and the Report-a-Poacher Program, and stories about children whose wishes have been granted by the foundation.
The pint-sized uniforms were sewn by Kathleen Ewald, wife of Grande Cache-based Fish and Wildlife Officer Mike Ewald.
“The stories are heart-wrenching. It’s hard to think anyone wouldn’t support such a cause,” observed Alex Frank of Camrose, the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Officer who sold the largest number of 2006 calendars.
Hanson said the Alberta Game Warden Association plans to continue its relationship with the Children’s Wish Foundation. “Next year, we hope the amount donated from the sale of the Wardens for Wishes calendar will exceed that which was donated this year.”
The Alberta Game Warden Association, a non-profit organization, promotes public awareness of environmental and natural resource issues that affect all outdoor enthusiasts, from hunters and fishermen to bird watchers.
Association President Hanson can be contacted for more information at 780-639-2042 or agwapresident@telus.net.
Bernie Arnold, spokesman for the Wardens for Wishes program, can be reached at 780-419-2749 or dcarnold@telusplanet.net. Kyle Juneau, fundraising and Wardens for Wishes Calendar co-ordinator, may be reached at Kyle.Juneau@gov.ab.ca.