TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2013 /CNW/ - United Steelworkers (USW) Canadian National Director Ken Neumann today announced the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is contributing $135,000 to 65 food banks in Canadian communities where USW members live and work.
"The Steelworkers Humanity Fund is making these contributions in communities as diverse as Sparwood, B.C., Cambridge, Ont., Montreal and St. John's, NL, because poor and vulnerable Canadians continue to rely on food banks to make ends meet," said Neumann.
"Food banks have become a core community resource, and we need to continue to support them", he said. "But more than that, we must start to see the elimination of poverty as a human rights obligation that requires positive, committed government action at all levels."
Canada's network of food banks has just released its annual report, The Hungercount 2013, which shows that food bank use across the country is 23% higher than it was prior to the economic crisis. The Hungercount 2013 report is available at www.foodbankscanada.ca.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians now regularly use food banks. It is also clear from Canada's experience with programs for low-income children and seniors, that government programs make a difference in alleviating poverty.
The United Steelworkers continues to support Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-Free Canada, which calls for a federal plan for poverty elimination that complements provincial and territorial plans, as well as an Anti-Poverty Act.
For a complete list of food banks receiving Steelworkers Humanity Fund contributions, please visit www.usw.ca.
Founded in 1985, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is a registered charitable organization that focuses primarily on development projects and emergency aid in developing countries, but it also supports Canadian communities in crisis. Steelworkers members contribute to the fund through clauses negotiated into collective agreements. In some cases matching contributions come from employers.
Updates on the Dignity for All campaign can be found at www.dignityforall.ca or at Canada Without Poverty / Canada Sans Pauvreté www.cwp-csp.ca or Citizens for Public Justice www.cpj.ca.
SOURCE: United Steelworkers (USW)
Ken Neumann, USW National Director for Canada, 416-544-5951
Doug Olthuis, Executive Director, Steelworkers Humanity Fund, 416-544-5957, [email protected]
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