Source: Edmonton Food Bank

This weekend, I received an email from Marjorie Bencz of the Edmonton Food Bank reminding people to make hunger and poverty an issue in the coming election. I have had the privilege of working with Marjorie over the past ten years through my work with United Way and have a tremendous amount of respect for her and the work done by Food Banks across the province. I wanted to share the information that was included in the message because I think poverty is an important issue for discussion here in the province:

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend the morning with the Outreach Team from Boyle Street Community Services. The weather that day was a few degrees below zero but still cold enough to feel a chill after spending a few hours walking through the river valley. Having worked in the social sector for a number of years, it did not come as a surprise that there are people living outdoors in winter, but seeing their camps, putting a face to them and listening to their stories is an entirely different experience.