MHC student, single mother of three wins $5K prize from ride-share company

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 11, 2026.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

A Medicine Hat student won a $5,000 prize as part of a Canada-wide initiative to help students navigate the rising cost of education and everyday living.

The Canadian ride-share company Uride launched an initiative earlier this month that picks one winner every week for the month of February to receive a $5,000 award.

The first winner, announced Feb. 10, is 37-year-old Dioné Walker, a student at Medicine Hat College.

A single mother of three, Walker is balancing her studies with the demands of parenting and a part-time job. She returned to school to pursue a program in child and youth counselling. Despite the heavy demands of her workload, she earned honours in her first semester.

Walker says as a mature student and a mother, any extra support helps her put more into her studies.

“I just wanted to firstly say thank you so much for this,” she said in a tstatement issued by Uride.

“This came at the perfect time to be honest. It’s going to help me focus more on school, it’s going to help me be able to give my kids what they need while I’m away at school, and while I’m with them. It’s literally going to be groceries and things that they need as well to keep thriving.”

Uride CEO and founder Cody Ruberto says students represent the future of the cities they live in.

“Students across Canada are doing everything they can to keep moving forward, often working multiple while trying to succeed in school,” said Ruberto. “Hearing their stories reminds us why this initiative matters.”

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