Smoky River Family and Community Support Services – In Focus
Georgia Dubois
FCSS 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.
As we all enter into the holiday season there are many individuals and families who will be struggling during this festive time.
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, more than 59 applications were processed for a food hamper from September 2014 to the end of November 2014. This means 59 families, 30 of whom were youth, needed to access the Food Bank.
The High Praire and District Food Bank, which services the Smoky River region, depends on donations to support these people. This past year donations are down and the food bank is running into the possibilities of not being able to provide a food hanper 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.” So, please donate at the Smoky River FCSS office located in the Town of Falher office, tax receipts are available for donations of $20 or more, make cheques payable to the Town of Falher.
Let’s all do our part to stamp out poverty