Smoky River Family and Community Support Services – In Focus
Georgia Iliou
Director
Poverty is an ongoing concern in the world and right here at home. And whether we want to believe it or not, people do not wake up one day and say “I want to be poor!” Poverty takes away a sense of security, denies choice, and limits access to services.
According to a recent study, 40 per cent of Canadians living in poverty are people with disabilities, who are more likely to be unemployed.
Another 40 per cent are the children who rely on the food bank and about 770,000 people across the country rely on the food bank every month. In the Smoky River region alone, in the months of January and February, 25 applications were processed assisting 50 people, 18 of whom were under the age of 18.
The High Praire and District Food Bank, which allows the ability to host a satellite location in the Smoky River region, depends on donations to support these residents. This past few months donations are down and the Smoky River Food Bank is running into the possibilities of not being able to provide a food hamper to meet the necessities of a family or individual.
This is where all of us can help! We all need to support this very valuable service by donating non-perishable goods as well as donating cash. We are so very fortunate to “have” and need to remember the “have nots.”
Items needed: school snacks, feminine products, diapers, formula, canned fruit, canned meat, juices and paper products.
So, please donate food items to the food bank bin in your local grocery store, or donate cash at the Smoky River FCSS office located in the Town of Falher Building, or at the Smoky River FCSS office in the Town of McLennen building on Tuesdays, tax receipts are available for donations of $20 or more. Make cheques payable to the Town of Falher.
Challenge your co-workers, challenge each other, challenge your local businesses, support the change in our Region to have the ability to assist our residents in their time of need.
Let’s all do our part to stamp out poverty.