Something to chew on

Group raising awareness for International Day for the Eradication of Poverty with ‘Chew on This’ bags

Teams will be out on the streets of Charlottetown, Cornwall and Summerside today to mark Oct. 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The volunteers will pass out “Chew on This” bags containing an apple, a refrigerator magnet and a post card to be sent to the prime minister of Canada.

In Canada, this is a crosscountry event sponsored by two national organizations: Canada Without Poverty and Citizens for Public Justice. The P.E.I. event is sponsored by the P.E.I. Coalition for a Poverty Eradication Strategy and the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice.

In Charlottetown, there will be teams on the corners of Kent and Queen, Kent and University and Queen and Water streets.

In Cornwall, there will be teams in front of the grocery store and near Tim Horton’s. In Summerside, the teams will be located near Sobeys and the Atlantic Superstore.

High on the groups’ priority list are a housing strategy, more assistance for mental health, the right to food as a human right, universal Pharmacare and increases in the minimum wage to a living wage, as well as more jobs and universal, affordable child care.

These demands are listed on a post card that will be contained in the Chew on This bag.

In Canada, 4.8 million people live in poverty. Most of the adults living in poverty are employed. The poverty rate on P.E.I. for children under six years old was 21.6 per cent according to 2015 statistics, while the overall child poverty rate was 17.8 per cent.