Cambridge food bank puts election candidates to work sorting food
More than a photo op, executive director says event will teach candidates about need in community
Candidates for council seats, mayoral seats and regional chair were put to work at the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank Tuesday.
It's more than a photo op, says Cameron Dearlove, the food bank's executive director.
He says he really wants candidates to understand what the food bank means to people in the community.
"The two takeaways that we're trying to drive home is number one, there is a lot of need in our community. We see one in 20 households who are food insecure, 10 per cent of people in our community are living in low income situations," he said.
"But what we also want to put forward is that there are solutions. There are ways we can work together to help."
Check out these photos from Round 2 of the Candidate Food Sort. Thanks to everyone who came out to help sort in the Distribution Centre, learn about our services, and discuss issues of poverty and local solutions! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FeedingCommunity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FeedingCommunity</a> <a href="https://t.co/nHY7WYaH1c">pic.twitter.com/nHY7WYaH1c</a>
—@CambFoodBankThe day included having the candidates take a tour of the facility before sorting food collected during the food bank's Harvest Food Drive, which asked people to bring in fresh fruit and vegetables.
"It's a little bit more than sorting food," Dearlove said.
"What we wanted to do was invite all of our municipal candidates into get a sense of what the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank does in our community, what some of the challenges are of the people that we serve and how they, possibly as elected representatives or as just leaders in our community, how they can be supporting the work that we do."