Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
Up in smoke?
REBELS TAME HURRICANES IN SHOOTOUT
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, DEC. 16, 2013
www.reddeeradvocate.com
Your trusted local news authority PRODUCTIVE PETS
Fish figure for food PEOPLE CAN HARVEST FISH EXCREMENT TO USE IN GROWING OF PLANTS Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF
Salvation Army volunteer Jeannette Munn greets shoppers at the Bower Place Shopping Center during her Kettle campaign shift on Friday.
A lot of people keep fish in their homes. Not many people use the excrement from those fish to grow herbs, salad greens, or tomatoes. But they can. Quite easily. Rene Michalak’s goal, through ReThink Red Deer’s series of ‘Productive Pets’ weekend workshops providing introductions to permaculture, is to show that animals can be used in urban environments to help produce food on a small scale. Over the weekend, the first of the workshops focused on building an aquaponic growing system — using fish in a tank to enable the growth of plants on top. While there were no actual fish involved Sunday, the afternoon was spent putting together the tank and accompanying pumping system that would allow for the plant growth. A repurposed 750-litre plastic industrial container would house dozens of tilapia; three or four times per hour a pump would bring water — and the fish’s excrement — from the tank up to the bed of coconut husks and biochar (charcoal) on top, creating a growing environment that could support any number of plants.
Charities hoping citizens answer the call for generosity
Please see FOOD on Page A2
FEWER TURN TO SALVATION ARMY FOR ASSISTANCE BUT KETTLE CAMPAIGN FACES CLIMB TO REACH GOAL BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF This is the week a lot of the generosity already exhibited towards Red Deer Christmas charities will make it into the hands of those who need it. Even so, those charities are hoping the flow of donations continues coming in through the last full week before Christmas. Those families being helped through the Salvation Army’s Adopt-a-Family campaign will have their packages delivered this week. Overall, the number of families registered through the initiative is about 145, down significantly from last year when 170 families were supported.
“I would like to think of that as a good thing, that people are just doing a little bit better and not as many people need the help,” said Major Larry Bridger. Approximately 110 sponsors have signed up to provide the support packages, a similar total to last year. Each sponsor typically supports one family, while money raised through the Salvation Army’s kettle campaign is allocated to purchase goods for the other applicants. It is in the kettle campaign that the charity is hoping for plenty of support before it wraps up for the year on Dec. 23. As of Tuesday, the campaign had brought in $93,000 — with a goal of $200,000, the Salvation Army will need an average of $10,000 stuffed in its
kettles every day from that day on to meet its target. The organization also sent out an appeal on Friday asking for volunteers to man the kettles and ring some bells for the last week of the long-running initiative. Bridger said there are approximately 50 two-hour shifts that still need to be filled for the week; he encouraged interested helpers to call 403-346-2251 to commit to a shift or two. The Red Deer Food Bank Society is hoping for another week of generosity too. Christmas hampers will start to roll out to those in need today, and while the food bank remains well stocked with food, it is still in need of cash donations.
Please see MIRACLE on Page A2
The battle goes on against tropical diseases RED DEER VOLUNTEERS HELP PROMOTE CAMPAIGN BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Everyone has seen images of stick-thin children with distended stomachs. But not everyone knows they are sick in part because of intestinal worms that cause neglected tropical diseases. Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR) wants to help protect 101,692 children and adults in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia from those diseases through a three-year initiative that includes a de-worming campaign, water and sanitation projects. CPAR volunteer Beulah Phillpot, 73, of Red Deer is spreading the word about the
WEATHER Mainly sunny. High -1, low -10.
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national campaign to raise over $400,000 to fund the project — at a cost of only $1.30 per person per year. “It’s ready to start the moment the money is there,” said Phillpot who visited the region with her husband Norm, 75, in November 2012. Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief was founded in 1984 in response to extreme famine and works in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi. The Red Deer couple was invited to see CPAR projects in action by Beulah’s sister, Jeannette Mergens, 70, of Kelowna. a longtime supporter of CPAR.
Please see PROJECTS on Page A2
Contributed photo
Rough roads make travel to the nearest health clinic difficult in the remote area of Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief want to run a campaign to tackle neglected tropical diseases in the region.
Actor Peter O’Toole dead at 81. Peter O’Toole was one of the acting world’s most charismatic figures. Story on PAGE A11
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