September 19 – 23, 2016
MISSISSAUGA, ON, Sept. 15, 2016 /CNW/ - Food bank use across Canada is 26 per cent higher than during the 2008 economic downturn. This is an unacceptable fact in a country as affluent as Canada. This year during Hunger Awareness Week (September 19 – 23), Food Banks Canada is calling on Canadians to draw the line on hunger and share how we can make an impact on this solvable issue.
The first food bank was established in Canada in 1981, as a short term solution to address the growing need for food assistance. Today, there are over 800 food banks and 3,000 agencies and food programs working to provide essential food for people living with household food insecurity.
Food banks across the country will be supporting Hunger Awareness Week by inviting community residents and businesses to participate in local events and activities. And this year, supporters are encouraged to Draw the Line on Hunger by creating and sharing their own drawings, images and ideas on the hunger issue.
"Food Banks Canada and the food bank network is asking all Canadians to tell us where to draw the line on hunger this year," says Pam Jolliffe, Executive Director, Food Banks Canada. "We are asking supporters to take pen to paper, their cameras or their smartphones by collectively drawing and sharing their concerns and thoughts on how we can make an impact and find solutions for hundreds of thousands of people across the country that struggle with hunger."
For the last decade, Food Banks Canada and the food banking network has organized a national awareness initiative to educate Canadians about the issue of hunger across the country and the role food banks have in assisting communities in need. Hunger Awareness Week, now held each year in September, kicks off the important charitable giving season by asking people to donate food, funds and time to their local food banks.
During any given week, more than 200,000 Canadians go hungry, including almost 70,000 children. Together, Canadians can make an impact on the solvable issue of hunger in Canada. For more information on Hunger Awareness Week visit www.hungerawarenessweek.ca.
The national Hunger Awareness Week campaign is supported by Hunger Champion Farm Credit Canada, a long term supporter of the hunger cause in Canada through many national and local initiatives including their long-standing FCC Drive Away Hunger campaign which has raised 27 million meals to date.
About Hunger Awareness Week
Hunger Awareness Week (hungerawarenessweek.ca) was created in 2006 to provide food banks with an opportunity to educate about the reality of hunger in Canada and to encourage all Canadians to make a choice to help those in need. This is the first year that Hunger Awareness Week is being held in September. Together, Canadians can make an impact on the solvable issue of hunger in Canada. Follow the conversation at #HungerWeek.
About Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada supports a unique network of over 3,000 food-related organizations in every province and territory that assists more than 850,000 Canadians each month. Together our network shares over 200 million pounds of essential, safe, quality food annually, provides social programs that help to foster self-sufficiency, and advocates for policy change that will help create a Canada where no one goes hungry. Follow Food Banks Canada at Facebook.com/FoodBanksCanada and on Twitter @FoodBanksCanada.
Stats drawn from: HungerCount 2015, Food Banks Canada. For the complete 2015 HungerCount report please go to foodbankscanada.ca/hungercount2015.
SOURCE Food Banks Canada
Image with caption: "Hunger Awareness Week (CNW Group/Food Banks Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160915_C2821_PHOTO_EN_774311.jpg
Image with caption: "This Hunger Awareness Week, Lets Draw the Line on Hunger (CNW Group/Food Banks Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160915_C2821_PHOTO_EN_774330.jpg
Media Contacts: Sonia Prashar, spPR, T: 416.560.6753, E: [email protected]; Marzena Gersho, Food Banks Canada, M: 647 242 5919, T: 905 602 5234 x228, E: [email protected]
About Food Banks Canada Food Banks Canada provides national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network from coast-to-coast-to-coast. For 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping Canadians living with...
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