FOOD BANK PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE?

HYDRO RATE INCREASES - SO TOO WILL THE FOOD BANK CLIENTELE

The disconnect between government and what’s happening in our home neighborhoods is expected, accepted and acknowledged over the decades and many past experiences.....and by the fact we know well, we, as citizens, have had to step-up and provide fundraising to help our local food bank for many years now, meet new demands. While the government, in this case provincial, fumbles through public relations protocols, and like my mother used to - give me orange juice with cod liver oil so it would taste better - you can’t fool us with the old give and then “take-back.”

Finding out this week that we will benefit from a 10 percent rebate in our ever escalating hydro bills was a nice pre-election morsel until it was revealed one day later, that we will also face a potential 46 percent increase in charges over the next five years. It’s hard to respond to something like this, other than to suggest, it will be another poverty builder in a province and country that is burdening its population to near fiscal collapse. There are many folks in our hometown who could not afford even a small increase in hydro, let alone a massive increase......which for some one on a fixed income is nothing short of debilitating. With the costs of water and taxes increasing on top of this, and food prices rising all the time, the true cost of living for real folks (not the composites illustrated by statistics alone) is becoming a serious impediment to all future success for our most vulnerable citizenry.

While it isn’t my mission to make our fundraising for the local Salvation Army Food Bank political, it really is unavoidable when you think about it. So when we wonder if our concerts, in aid of the Food Bank, are really doing any good at all, hearing news about future hydro increases for example, keeps us committed to working harder to help out our friends, and neighbors, who need the supplies the Salvation Army gathers to support an expanding clientele.

Please join us on December 18th at the Gravenhurst Opera House, in support of our community Food Bank.