STRIDES Walk for Diabetes Awareness

by James Letourneau

Thursday June 12th 2025

Both the Wetaskiwin and Millet Lion's Clubs held a fundraiser event on May31st 2025 under the STRIDES banner. This was a walk for diabetes awareness in which funds are raised and information is displayed . The event was held at By The Lake Park nature reserve in Wetaskiwin. It is beatifull park where you can see Mule deer feeding in the wooded area see and hear variouis birds. All wildlife in the park is wild so use caution when approaching.

Funds raised this year to date is $1,333.00 a final total will be available after July 01st when we draw for a donated hoverboard.

Both Wetaskiwin and Millet Lion's clubs will start planning for next years event in March so stay tuned for details.

 

$10,000 Donation in Sight

Branin Thompson, Murray Warnke, Larry Fowell, Bern Hankinson, Jim Taylor, Cliff Reed,Glen Zahara and Cheryl Deckert

 

 An oversized cheque was presented to representatives of the Wetaskiwin Hospital and Health Foundation during a photo op just outside the operating room in the Wetaskiwin Hospital on February 1st .  Lion, Larry Fowell announced, “We are donating $10,000.00 to the Wetaskiwin Health Foundation to help purchase cataract surgical trays.”  That was all he had to say to bring smiles of gratitude to the faces of the Wetaskiwin Hospital staff and representatives of the Wetaskiwin Health Foundation.
  “The Lions are doing a wonderful thing by supporting cataract surgery,” said a grateful Cheryl Deckert, Wetaskiwin Hospital Manager. “You have just made three smiling ophthalmologists out there and one smiling Operating Room Manager as we have another important item off our want and need list.  The fact that the donation came in today couldn’t be any better timing.”  She laughingly added, “When the cheque came in it was only good for 5 minutes and I spent it.  We bought sterilization trays so the fragile instruments can be easily cleaned without damaging them in the high pressure sterilization unit.”
 Cheryl talked about the importance of the donation and how this community has been so supportive. “A set of cataract instruments to do one case is $8000 and we need 24 of them. The microscope they use to do the surgery cost $175,000 and we just got a new one from Alberta Health Services.  The support from Alberta Health Services has been wonderful but they can’t do everything so it’s so important for the (Wetaskiwin) Health Foundation, the community and you (the Lions) to step forward like this.”
 Cataract surgery is the removal of the natural lens of the eye (also called "crystalline lens") that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract. Metabolic changes of the crystalline lens fibers over time lead to the development of the cataract and loss of transparency, causing impairment or loss of vision. Many patients' first symptoms are strong glare from lights and small light sources at night, along with reduced acuity (sharpness) at low light levels. During cataract surgery, a patient's cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a synthetic lens to restore the lens's transparency.
 Cataract surgery is generally performed by an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) in an ambulatory (rather than inpatient) setting, in a surgical center or hospital, using local anesthesia usually causing little or no discomfort to the patient. Well over 90% of operations are successful in restoring useful vision, with a low complication rate.  Source  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataract_surgery
 Equipment purchased by funding from donations made to the Wetaskiwin Health Foundation provides top notch healthcare that exceeds what can be offered using only government funding. Cheryl describes it by saying, “80-90% of the people having cataract surgery are from the Wetaskiwin region.  Given the demographics of Wetaskiwin and the aging population, we are thankful we can purchase medical equipment and provide them with health services in their own community. This year alone we will be performing 900 cataract operations on 450 patients right here in Wetaskiwin.”
 The Hospital prides itself on the convenience that can be offered, the personalized care and maintaining a low infections rate. “We get wonderful feedback from the citizens. It’s a smooth operation (cataract) and often we see them down in the cafeteria the same day as the operation. We have been doing this since 1993 so we know the process very well.”
 The Wetaskiwin Lions Club has donated $119,390 to the Wetaskiwin Health Foundation over the years. Larry commented, “There are many contributions made by the Wetaskiwin Lions that have assisted with making Our City a better place to live.” And of course Cheryl wasn’t exactly kidding when she invitingly said “Whenever you want to come back, we will be here.”
 The Wetaskiwin Health Foundation is the essential link for creating and managing partnerships and alliances between healthcare representatives and individuals, service clubs, foundations, corporate representatives, and government. The correct mix of partners and resources are matched to satisfy the values of the donor and the needs of healthcare. For more information contact Foundation Executive Director, Lillian Dykes at 780-361-4130.