Opinion: Canada Post strike is hurting the hungry in Ottawa

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The strike at Canada Put up started on Nov. 15. Since that point, Canadians throughout the nation and in Ottawa have been affected.

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Whereas there was a lot dialogue in regards to the impacts on companies and Canadians dwelling in smaller communities, there has not been a lot dialogue about how the strike is affecting Canadian charities and the weak neighborhood members who depend upon them.

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There are about 86,000 registered charities throughout Canada. Many work tirelessly to assist weak neighborhood members affected by the power deficit in inexpensive and supportive housing, mental-health misery, substance use, job loss and protracted inflation for necessities comparable to meals and hire.

The Ottawa Mission — our neighborhood’s oldest and largest homeless shelter — is one in all these organizations. Nearly 5 years after Ottawa Council declared a homelessness emergency, homelessness has returned to catastrophic ranges: our beds and over-capacity mats have been full because the finish of the pandemic.

In line with Ottawa Public Well being, meals insecurity has risen from one-in-seven to one-in-four households in our neighborhood. This surprising improve is one thing we see every day with our food truck program, which began as a pandemic response with one truck, 5 stops and 500 meals per week and has grown to 2 vehicles, 38 stops and 10,500 meals per week.

This program feeds individuals when the chance of starvation has by no means been better. It has served multiple million meals since 2020 and has been funded primarily by means of the generosity of our donors. When meals truck meals are mixed with the meals we serve to our shelter shoppers and neighborhood members who come to our shelter, we now have served multiple million meals every for the previous two fiscal years.

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Personal donors comprise greater than 55 per cent of our shelter’s annual funds. We’re very lucky to have so many loyal, beneficiant and compassionate donors who proceed to assist our work to satisfy the wants of unprecedented numbers of weak individuals.

One such instance is our particular vacation meals served to hundreds of neighborhood members at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Along with offering a full vacation meal for meals truck, neighborhood and shelter shoppers (with all of the trimmings) to individuals who would in any other case go hungry, these events present a possibility for remoted neighborhood members — a lot of whom have misplaced contact with members of the family — to return collectively in our eating room, take pleasure in one another’s firm, and alleviate their loneliness.

For the reason that pandemic and the introduction of our meals truck program, our meal numbers have skyrocketed, particularly for these particular vacation meals. Final Christmas, we served 17,427 particular meals to shoppers of this program plus our shelter and neighborhood shoppers.

Our capacity to satisfy their wants this yr is unfortunately doubtful. As a result of so a lot of our donors depend on Canada Put up to ship of their donations, our revenues have dropped considerably at what’s often our busiest time of the yr, critically compromising our capacity to supply an attractive Christmas dinner for therefore many who will in any other case go hungry and be alone. Day by day that passes with out a decision will increase this danger.

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This ongoing strike is hurting so many individuals. We urge the 2 sides on this labour dispute to return collectively as quickly as doable to resolve it in order that these individuals who depend upon native charities comparable to ours is not going to be left wanting.

For many who usually give to The Ottawa Mission by mail, you may drop off your donations at any DYMON location throughout Ottawa, name us at 613-234-1155, or donate online.

Chef Ric Allen-Watson is the Director of Meals Companies at The Ottawa Mission. Peter Tilley is The Mission’s CEO.

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