The Living Wage for Calgary is $17.29 / hr, almost $7 higher than the current minimum wage in Alberta. A Living Wage is the wage that is high enough to maintain a standard of living, allowing one to participate as an active citizen in the community. Given this stat, and the current difficult times in the oil and gas industry we Calgarians are facing, this puts a great number of us reliant on a program such as the Calgary Food Bank.
In the year 2014, The Calgary Food Bank experienced some eye opening activity:
- 132,469 Calgarians accessed the Food Bank in 2014.
- 43% were children, 6% higher than the national average.
- 1 in 5 Canadian parents have said they have skipped a meal to put food on the table for their children.
- The Calgary Food Bank was able to send food to 63 food banks across Canada during times of emergency and crisis.
Volunteers are the life blood of the Calgary Food Bank in order to keep up with this high demand.
On August 27th, a team from Tetranex Solutions Inc. rolled up their sleeves, to pitch in. We had eager volunteers involved in donation sorting and hamper packing and managed to keep the Food Bank’s system running efficiently and without incident – almost keeping up with the conveyor system. In addition to the volunteering effort, Tetranex donated $2,500 to the Calgary Food Bank to help with their many programs.
To learn more about the Calgary Food Bank, and how you can help, please visit their web site at www.calgaryfoodbank.com.