Weekly newsletter: July 4, 2023

Welcome to the first week of July! I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing Canada Day weekend. 

Over the last two weeks, my dad visited from Hong Kong. It was a great visit; I had fun pretending to be a tourist in my own city — visiting museums, touristy areas, and temporarily forgetting about my diet. 

He noted several changes about Ottawa since he last visited in 2013, such as the new buildings and the LRT, and is grateful for the kindness people here extend to visitors. 

I also want to thank you for your patience while email replies from me personally were a bit slower and fewer in number, but I like to think no one noticed. 😉 

Anyway, I’ve been promising a shorter newsletter header for a while now, and it seemed to have gotten longer instead. Today’s is shorter, but I feel is a very important topic. 

Many people spend the whole year looking forward to the summer, but the opposite is true for food banks. Despite usage levels that don’t change with the seasons, support for food banks is typically much lower in the summer. 

Suburban issues are usually thought of as traffic, municipal services, and the like, but some people don’t see, don’t know, or outright deny that social issues like hunger and poverty exist in the suburbs. 

Behind the façade of our suburban homes may be a single parent making the choice between paying for housing or for food. Your child’s friend at school might be starting and ending their days hungry. 

I often argue social issues in the suburbs are more dangerous, because it’s less obvious. 

The Barrhaven Food Cupboard has issued an urgent appeal for monetary and food item donations throughout the summer. 

Between unprecedented demand levels (almost 50 per cent increase since 2020), rising food prices, and lower season support, the Barrhaven Food Cupboard could face closure by the end of 2023. 

Their closure would be a tremendous loss for our community and leave over 1,500 individuals and 400 families without supplementary and regular access to healthy food. 

If you are in a position to help, please consider supporting our grassroots community organisation run by your neighbours. The Barrhaven Food Cupboard is 100 per cent volunteer-run and community funded. 

Wishing the American residents in my ward a Happy Independence Day, and a safe summer vacation to everyone else! 

Take care,