TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2015 /CNW/ - United Steelworkers' (USW) Canadian National Director Ken Neumann today announced the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is contributing $166,000 to 73 different food banks and community food centres in communities across Canada where USW members live and work.
"In communities as diverse as Cranbrook, B.C., Brandon, Man., Sherbrooke, Que., and Pictou, N.S. the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is contributing to food banks because poor and vulnerable members in our communities continue to rely on them to make ends meet," said Neumann. "The fact is that 850,000 Canadians, one-third of them children, turn to food banks every month.
"Food banks can't address the underlying causes of poverty – that is why the Steelworkers continue to call for a national anti-poverty strategy that sees the elimination of poverty as an issue of human rights, and supports federal and provincial campaigns on fair minimum wages."
The list of food banks and community food centres receiving 2015 contributions from the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is available at www.usw.ca/humanityfund.
Founded in1985, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is a registered charitable organization which focuses primarily on development projects and emergency aid in developing countries, but is also supports Canadian communities in crisis. USW members contribute to the fund through clauses negotiated into collective agreements. In some cases matching contributions come from employers.
Food Banks Canada has released its Hunger Count 2015 Report, available at www.foodbankscanada.ca.
SOURCE Steelworkers Humanity Fund
Ken Neumann, USW National Director, 416-544-5991; Doug Olthuis, Steelworkers Humanity Fund Executive Director, 416-544-5957
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