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Learning English with CBC
Edmonton
Monthly feature story:
Edmonton Food Bank
March 2014 Lesson plans created by Amie Sondheim and Justine Light
www.alberta.ca http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/learning-‐english/
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Feature Story Objectives
Edmonton Food Bank
CLB competency outcomes Listening: Reading: Speaking: Writing:
L: Identify main ideas, supporting details and implied meanings. L: Uses syllable stress to determine word meaning (nouns from verbs). R: Identifies main ideas, key details and some implied meanings. R: Recognizes purposes and authors’ intents. S: Uses reduction in pronouncing [h] auxiliary verbs and pronouns. W: Write descriptively using expressions.
Language skills Vocabulary:
Use new vocabulary in context.
Grammar:
Describe the meaning of numerous phrasal verbs. Identify which phrasal verbs are separable or inseparable.
Speaking:
Identify and model relaxed speech by reducing or omitting [h] in auxiliary verbs and pronouns.
Language Activities (In order of appearance in materials) -‐ Answering comprehension and probing questions about a short
background text about the Food Bank. -‐ Completing pre-‐listening activities to build vocabulary and prepare
learners for the audio. -‐ Listen to the audio and infer meaning and identify facts and details. -‐ Listening -‐ Identify syllable stress to determine the difference between
nouns and verbs. -‐ Speaking strategies – unstressed [h] words – pronunciation practice -‐ Grammar activity – Phrasal verbs– identifying the verbs and which ones
are separable and inseparable. Identify the meaning of phrasal verbs. -‐ Pre-‐reading vocabulary – complete vocabulary activity to prepare for the
reading. -‐ Reading for meaning/comprehension. -‐ Reading strategy – using the title of a reading to predict the content of the
reading and to activate schemata in the learner. -‐ Writing – Descriptive writing – using expressions to convey information.
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Introduction – Background Reading
Edmonton Food Bank
Mission Statement
“To be stewards in the collection of surplus and donated food for the effective distribution, free of charge, to people in need in our community while seeking solutions to the causes of hunger”.
Facts about the Edmonton Food Bank
-‐ Works collaboratively with more than 210 agencies, churches and food depots throughout Edmonton, such as Our House Addiction Recovery, Bissell Centre and Hope Mission. These agencies receive food from our warehouse to help their clients. -‐ Serves more than 13,000 people per month through their hamper programs. -‐ Over 350,000 meals and snacks are provided monthly through our affiliated agencies.
-‐ Provides food to 35 high-‐risk schools for lunch & snack programs in Edmonton. -‐ Approximately 40 percent of their clients are children under the age of 18. -‐ More than 1,100 events are coordinated each year to raise food and funds to support their mission. These events also raise awareness of the solvable problem of hunger in the community -‐ Collected, sorted, repackaged, and redistributed 3.2 million kilograms of food in 2013. The approximate value of this food is $17,600,000.
Food Bank Volunteers -‐ In 2013, more than 45,600 volunteer hours were contributed. -‐ Volunteers assist with warehouse duties such as sorting, repackaging food, packing food hampers, and acting as ambassadors for the Food Bank at special events and fundraisers. Food For Thought:
1. Do you have a food bank, or something like it in your home country? 2. What options are available for people if they can’t afford to feed their families in
your home country? 3. Have you ever volunteered for an organization? Which one and why?
Information adapted from: https://d10k7k7mywg42z.cloudfront.net/assets/5310c4574f720a160100029d/EFB_Fast_Facts_2014.pdf
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The Audio In this audio, you will hear CBC reporter Adrienne Lamb interviewing different people who work for, or with, the Edmonton Food Bank. They discuss the amount of food that gets handed out each month to those in need; how the organization has grown over the years; and how volunteers have helped with keeping the Food Bank going.
Before you listen: How do you think a food bank operates? How much food do you think gets donated to the needy each month?
Image used with permission and taken from: http://edmontonsfoodbank.com/hungry/
Speaker Report on the Food Bank
Havrid
Food Bank has been used as ammunition in the battle against Alberta’s social
services cutbacks. Certainly the load on the Food Bank has increased, since
those cutbacks hit. The Food Bank hands out 90,000 pounds of food a month
in the Edmonton area. That’s up from the first of the year. Four times as
much food goes out to the hungry every month now.
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Pre-‐listening Vocabulary The words below are from the audio. The definitions are next to the words. Read the definitions then complete the sentences on the following page. Word Definition 1. Food Bank (noun)
An agency, group or organization that collects food and gives it to people who are in need.
2. Annual (adjective)
Yearly; every year
3. Turkey drive (noun)
Usually done at Christmas time or Thanksgiving by companies, schools and organizations. The purpose is to collect money, food and turkeys to give to people who are in need of food during the holiday season.
4. Archives (noun)
A place where public records or other historical documents are held.
5. Cutback (phrasal verb)
A decrease or reduction
6. Storeroom (noun)
A room, or space for storage
7. Doling out (phrasal verb)
To divide into portions and then give out, (food, money, resources…)
8. Handwrite (verb)
To write something by hand, instead of typing it.
9. Contribution (noun)
The act of contributing (the result of having given towards something)
10. Donation (noun)
An act of giving something as a gift or contribution. E.g. donation of money, time, food, clothes, etc.
11. Acknowledge (adjective)
To agree and recognize that something is true, or that something has happened.
12. Appreciate (verb)
To feel thankful.
13. Food hamper (noun)
A box of food prepared by the Food Bank to give to people in need of food.
14. Hunting organization (noun )
An organization made up of a group of hunters (people who hunt animals).
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Use “Pre-‐Listening Vocabulary” words to complete the following sentences.
1. The government _________________________on social spending, so there wasn’t enough money to build the new homeless shelter.
2. Thank you for the __________________________of $100.00! Now we can make 4
more food hampers.
3. I like to ___________________________thank you cards, instead of typing them, when people do me favours.
4. The ___________________________is responsible for feeding thousands of families
in Edmonton each year.
5. I keep all my extra groceries in my ____________________________at my house.
6. Each year many businesses, like CBC, organize _______________________to collect food for the hungry.
7. __________________________ get together to donate meat to the Edmonton Food
Bank to help feed the hungry.
8. Every December the __________________________ fundraiser, called the CBC Turkey Drive, raises money and collects food items for the hungry.
9. If you go back and look in the ___________________ you will see there is a history
of Edmontonians donating time and money to help feed the hungry people.
10. Volunteers enjoy _____________________________ food rations to the hungry because it makes them feel good to help out those in need.
11. It’s nice to ______________________________ all of the people who help feed the
hungry people in Edmonton by writing thank-‐you cards.
12. The people who receive food from the Food Bank really ______________________________ it.
13. If it weren’t for the many _______________________________ from the citizens of
Edmonton, the Food Bank would not be able to feed the hungry.
14. Every Christmas my family receives a ________________________because we don’t have much money to buy our own food.
(Answers can be found in appendix)
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Listening for Meaning Listen to the news broadcast and answer the following questions:
1. How long has the Edmonton Food Bank been operating?
2. Did the Food Bank get busier, or less busy after the social services cutbacks took effect in Alberta?
3. How did the donation from the United Way help the Food Bank?
4. How much food does the Food Bank give out each month?
5. How much food does the Food Bank give out each year?
6. How does Margery Benz thank all of the people who donate money at Christmas time?
7. Do most of the donations come from the wealthier people in Alberta?
8. What does the organization “Hunters Who Care” do?
9. How do the Food Banks in Edmonton and Calgary store the meat?
10. Why does Jim donate meat every year?
11. How do the soup kitchens view the meat donations?
12. Has Jim ever tried the meat that his organization donates to the Food Bank?
(Answers can be found in appendix)
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Listening Strategies – Stress and Noun-‐Verb Changes The goal of the listening strategies section of the monthly feature lesson is to help you to improve your listening skills for all listening situations – not just this audio. Some two-‐syllable words function as nouns when they are stressed on the first syllable and verbs when they are stressed on the second syllable. Word
Noun Verb
Produce I like to buy PROduce at the grocery store.
I will prodUCE an error free essay.
Practice I have soccer PRActice I practICE the piano every day.
Now listen to these clips and decide if the following words are a noun or verb based on word stress in the speaker’s pronunciation. Time frame Word Noun
Verb
0:00-‐ 0:32 Archives
0:32 – 0:52 Battle
0:52-‐1:09 Figures
1:57-‐ 2:22 Support
2:22 – 2:33 Average
2:38-‐ 2:43 Support
2:53-‐3:23 Comments
4:18-‐ 4:57 Hunting organization
4:18-‐4:57 Processing
4:18-‐4:57 Prepared
5:00-‐ end of passage Support
(Answers can be found in appendix)
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Building Speaking Skills – Unstressed h words -‐ Linking The auxiliary verbs that begin with [h] (has, have, had) are unstressed and lose the [h] sound when they are inside a phrase. This reduction in the pronunciation of [h] is something that occurs in natural, native speakers’ speech and is not done intentionally. *The last sound of word that comes before the auxiliary verb replaces the [h] and links with the rest of the auxiliary verb. For example: “What has” sounds like ‘Wha-‐daz’. Listen to these examples and practice saying them. Write down how the word before the [h] auxiliary verb and the auxiliary itself sound together and read what you wrote, instead of looking at the two words separately.
Time frame ______________+ [h] auxiliary
Phonetics of
words combined 0:32-‐ 0:52 Bank has been e.g. Ban-‐kas
0:52-‐ 1:09 Churches has temporarily
1:09-‐1:20 What has been
1:42-‐ 1:57 For having us
2:53-‐ 3:23 Always has my back
3:45-‐4:03 We have both
4:18-‐5:57 Everyone has
This reduction also occurs in these personal pronouns: he, him, her and his. Think of some example sentences with those pronouns in them and then practice reading them aloud, un-‐stressing the [h]. e.g. What does he want? (What doesee want?) Please, give him the books. (Please, giv-‐im the books.)
(Answers in the appendix)
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Grammar Activity – Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are expressions that are formed by combining verbs and prepositions. The meaning of this combination of words is different from the meaning each word possesses individually. Look at these examples from the audio and identify the phrasal verb and then try to determine the meaning of each phrasal verb in context. Phrasal verb Meaning I dug into the archives to find some footage
…
The Food Bank hands out 90,000 pounds of
food a month…
Four times as much food goes out to the
hungry every month now.
A thanksgiving food drive at local churches
has temporarily loaded up the storerooms…
We run this operation with 90,000 pounds of
food going in and out a month.
The Food Bank … (is) doling out, every year,
3 million kilos of food to hungry
Edmontonians.
It goes back to over 20 years…
Most of our donations come in from the
average Albertan.
Some of the food hampers, heading out the
door.
They’re always looking for extra protein….
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Reading Activity Pre-‐reading vocabulary and phrases – The following vocabulary will help you understand the reading text better. Match the words with the definitions. The first one is done for you. 1. Battling d a) the money it costs for day to day
things like food, shelter, transportation
2. Utilities b) to direct the attention or thoughts of
3. Living expenses c) a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
4. Resources d) to fight
5. Agency e) to make a difficult or upsetting situation easier to deal with
6. Referred f) something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.
7. Qualifications g) not long ago
8. (Alberta) standards h) relaxed the kids
9. Lighten the load i) a public service, as a telephone or electric-‐light system
10. Recently j) to get a profession
11. Secured a job k) to pay for
12. Settled the children l) a source of money, supply, support, food, or aid to be
13. Cover all the costs m) to pay all the bills with the money one has
14. Make ends meet n) an organization, company, or bureau that provides some service for another
(Answers in the appendix)
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Reading strategies: Using the title to predict what is in the reading Thinking about the title of a reading before you read activates your prior knowledge that you have about the topic. Vocabulary words, images and ideas that you connect with the reading topic should help you understand the reading better. Try it!
1. Before reading, look at the titles of each of the three readings.
2. For each title, brainstorm and write down any ideas, words or images that you can think of.
3. Next, read the passages and write down any key words from the passage into the third column. Did what you wrote down in your brainstorming section connect to what was found in each reading?
Not much left after rent
Brainstorm – before reading Key words and ideas that relate to the title from the reading
New to Canada
Brainstorm – before reading Key words and ideas that relate to the title from the reading
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Not enough money to cover all the costs and groceries
Brainstorm – before reading Key words and ideas that relate to the title from the reading
4. Do you think these readings were appropriately named?
5. Can you think of a better or different name of any of them?
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Not much left after rent
Posted on January 12, 2012
Pam is a young woman who has been battling breast cancer for years. Her disease has taken
her strength, her job, and her security. The province provides $530 per month to cover rent,
food, transportation, utilities, and all her other living expenses. After paying $430 for rent,
Pam is left without the food and the strength she needs to keep fighting. Edmonton’s Food
Bank has been able to provide her with food and resources for accessing further help from
agencies in our community.
New to Canada
Posted on January 12, 2012
I was referred to Edmonton’s Food Bank by a newcomer’s agency in the city, I just moved
here from Croatia and planned to work as an engineer. I found out that my qualifications
from Croatia don’t meet Alberta standards and I have to go back to school. I’m currently
working as a night janitor and am saving for school but it is a still a struggle to make ends
meet living in a new city. The Food Bank helped lighten the load so I can focus on my
studies.
Not enough money to cover all the costs and groceries
Posted on January 12, 2012
Recently, a mother and her two children moved to Edmonton. The mother secured a job, an
apartment and settled the children into day care and school. When the bills arrived at the
end of the month, she found there was not enough money to cover all the costs and
groceries. She turned to Edmonton’s Food Bank for help until she can find a better paying
job.
Success: Two months later, the mother received a raise and made a small donation to
Edmonton’s Food Bank in appreciation of its support.
Readings excerpted from http://edmontonsfoodbank.com/stories/ with permission. Other testimonials abot Edmontonians who have used the Food Bank can be found at this site.
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Reading for Meaning: Comprehension Read these questions and then read each story and answer all of the questions. 1. Not much left after rent
a) What does this mean: “Her disease has taken her strength, her job, and her security”?
b) Does the province provide enough money for Pam’s living expenses?
c) What does it mean to “battle breast cancer”?
2. New to Canada
a) How did the man find out about the Food Bank?
b) Why can’t this man work in his trained profession?
c) How has the man supported himself since coming to Canada?
d) What is included in the “load” in the term “lighten the load”?
3. Not enough money to cover all the costs and groceries a) What is another way to say “secured” a job and/or an apartment?
b) How long did the woman use the Food Bank for?
c) How did the mother thank the Food Bank for its’ help?
(Answers in the appendix)
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Writing These reading passages use some interesting expressions to describe the circumstances these people have faced. The expressions used cannot be separated, or they will lose their meaning. Writers use this type of language to paint a picture for the reader so the reader can almost feel or see the words. Look at each set of expressions below and write a short passage about yourself (or someone you know), using each expression. Battle against Keep fighting
1. When did you, or someone you know, have to battle against something and keep on fighting?
Make ends meet Lighten the load Struggle to 2. When did you, or someone you know, have to make ends meet? What lightened the load? What did you/they struggle to do?
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Secured a job Cover the costs Turned to someone (or something)
3. When did you, or someone you know, have trouble securing a job, covering the costs and turning and then to someone for help or support?
4. Lastly, have you ever needed to use the Food Bank? Write about what happened and
try to use as many of the expressions above as possible.
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Links Community Meals: Meals provided by city agencies http://edmontonsfoodbank.harmonyapp.com/hungry/community-‐meals/ Discount Groceries: http://edmontonsfoodbank.harmonyapp.com/hungry/discount-‐groceries/ Basic needs: Food Banks and Food Hampers http://www.informalberta.ca/public/common/viewSublist.do?cartId=1011667 Hamper Programs: http://edmontonsfoodbank.harmonyapp.com/hungry/hamper-‐program/ Resources to help you stretch your dollar further http://edmontonsfoodbank.harmonyapp.com/hungry/planning-‐healthy-‐family-‐meals/ A video on syllable stress with nouns and verbs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVjlD2_uvlU For more information on phrasal verbs (dictionary, quiz, definition of phrasal verbs) go to http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/phrasal-‐verbs/ For more on using a title to predict reading content, go to: https://www.teachervision.com/skill-‐builder/reading/48711.html Writing more descriptively: http://www.time4writing.com/writing-‐resources/descriptive-‐essay/ http://hubpages.com/hub/Is-‐there-‐a-‐way-‐to-‐learn-‐how-‐to-‐be-‐a-‐more-‐descriptive-‐writer
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Appendix – Answer Keys Pre-‐Listening
1. The government cutback on social spending, so there wasn’t enough money to build
the new homeless shelter.
2. Thank you for the donation or contribution of $100.00! Now we can make 4 more
food hampers.
3. I like to handwrite thank you cards, instead of typing them, when people do favours
for me.
4. The Food Bank is responsible for feeding thousands of families in Edmonton each
year.
5. I keep all my extra groceries in my storeroom at my house.
6. Each year many businesses, like CBC, organize turkey drives to collect food for the
hungry.
7. Hunting organizations get together to donate meat to the Edmonton Food Bank to
help feed the hungry.
8. Every December the annual fundraiser, called the CBC Turkey Drive, raises money
and collects food items for the hungry.
9. If you go back and look in the archives you will see the history of Edmontonians
donating time and money to help feed the hungry people.
10. Volunteers enjoy doling out food rations to the hungry because it makes them feel
good to help out those in need.
11. It’s nice to acknowledge all of the people who help feed the hungry people in
Edmonton by writing thank-‐you cards.
12. The people who receive food from the Food Bank really appreciate it.
13. If it wasn’t for the many contributions or donations from the citizens of Edmonton,
the Food Bank would not be able to feed the hungry.
14. Every Christmas my family receives a food hamper, because we don’t have much
money to buy our own food.
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Listening for Meaning
1. How long has the Edmonton Food Bank been operating? For more than 30 years.
2. Did the Food Bank get busier, or less busy after the social services cutbacks took effect in Alberta? Busier – “Certainly the load on the Food Bank has increased, since those cutbacks hit.”
3. How did the donation from the United Way help the Food Bank? They were able to
meet the tremendous increase in the demand (a lot more hungry mouths to feed) that was put on them and they were able to hire a 3rd person.
4. How much food does the Food Bank give out each month? 90,000 pounds.
5. How much food does the Food Bank give out each year? 3 million kilograms.
6. How does Margery Benz thank all of the people who donate money at Christmas
time? She handwrites them thank you cards.
7. Do most of the donations come from the wealthier people in Alberta? No, more come from the average, middle class Albertan.
8. What does the organization “Hunters Who Care” do? They donate some of the meat
they kill to the Food Bank, as well they raise money in order to pay for the processing of that meat.
9. How do the Food Banks in Edmonton and Calgary store the meat? In their large
freezers.
10. Why does Jim donate meat every year? Because he thinks it’s a good opportunity to share a little bit extra with someone whose less fortunate.
11. How do the soup kitchens view the meat donations? They appreciate them. They
see the donations as extra protein for their clients.
12. Has Jim ever tried the meat that his organization donates to the Food Bank? Yes, he does. He says that it tastes really good too!
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Pre-‐reading vocabulary and phrases 1. Battling d a) the money it costs for day to day
things like food, shelter, transportation
2. Utilities i b) to direct the attention or thoughts of
3. Living expenses a c) a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
4. Resources l d) to fight 5. Agency n e) to make a difficult or upsetting
situation easier to deal with 6. Referred b f) something considered by an
authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.
7. Qualifications c g) not long ago 8. (Alberta) standards f h) relaxed the kids 9. Lighten the load e i) a public service, as a telephone or
electric-‐light system 10. Recently g j) to get a profession 11. Secured a job J k) to pay for 12. Settled the children h l) a source of money, supply,
support, food, or aid to be 13. Cover all the costs K m) to pay all the bills with the
money one has 14. Make ends meet m n) an organization, company, or
bureau that provides some service for another
Listening Strategies:
Time frame Word Noun
Verb
0:00-‐ 0:32 Archives X
0:32 – 0:52 Battle X
0:52-‐1:09 Figures X
1:57-‐ 2:22 Support X
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2:22 – 2:33 Average X
2:38-‐ 2:43 Support X
2:53-‐3:23 Comments X
4:18-‐ 4:57 Hunting organization X
4:18-‐4:57 Processing X
4:18-‐4:57 Prepared X
5:00-‐ end Support X
Speaking Strategies
Time frame ______________+ [h] auxiliary
Phonetics of
words combined 0:32-‐ 0:52 Bank has been Ban-‐kas
0:52-‐ 1:09 Churches has temporarily Churches-‐zas
1:09-‐1:20 What has been Wha-‐daz
1:42-‐ 1:57 For having us For-‐aving
2:53-‐ 3:23 Always has my back Alwayz-‐as
3:45-‐4:03 We have both We-‐ave
4:18-‐5:57 Everyone has Everyon-‐nas
Grammar Strategies Phrasal verb
Meaning
I dug into the archives to find some footage …
Searched through
The Food Bank hands out 90,000 pounds of food a month…
Distributes
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Four times as much food goes out to the hungry every month now.
Is given to.
A thanksgiving food drive at local churches has temporarily loaded up the storerooms…
Stocked; filled
We run this operation with 90,000 pounds of food going in and out a month.
Going in-‐ being donated Going out – being given out
The Food Bank … (is) doling out, every year, 3 million kilos of food to hungry Edmontonians.
Giving out
It goes back to over 20 years… Dates back; Most of our donations come in from the average Albertan.
Are from; arrive from
Some of the food hampers, heading out the door.
Leaving from the building
They’re always looking for extra protein…. Trying to find Reading Strategies Not much left after rent
Brainstorm – before reading Key words and ideas that relate to the title from the reading
-‐ Her disease took her job and security
-‐ $530 per month to cover rent, food…
-‐ After paying $430 for rent, Pam is left without food
-‐ Food Bank has provided her with food and resources…
New to Canada
Brainstorm – before reading Key words and ideas that relate to the title from the reading
-‐ newcomers agency -‐ just moved here -‐ living in a new city
Not enough money to cover all the costs and groceries
Brainstorm – before reading Key words and ideas that relate to the title from the reading
-‐not enough money to cover all the costs and groceries.
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Reading Comprehension
1. Not much left after rent a) What does this mean: “Her disease has taken her strength, her job, and her
security”? She was so sick that she was weak, she couldn’t go to work and from that she was not able to make money anymore, hence losing her job security.
b) Does the province provide enough money for Pam’s living expenses? No, she
just has enough for rent, but she doesn’t have enough for food.
c) What does it mean to “battle breast cancer”? It means to fight the disease, to
try to get better, so she doesn’t have cancer anymore.
2. New to Canada a) How did the man find out about the Food Bank? A newcomer’s agency told the
man about the Food Bank and he was referred to the Food Bank. b) Why can’t this man work in his trained profession? Because Alberta does not
recognize his engineering qualifications. What a person needs to be an engineer in Alberta is not the same as what they need in Croatia.
c) How has the man supported himself since coming to Canada? He is working as
a janitor at night. d) What is included in the “load” in the term “lighten the load”? The load is the
cost of living, the cost of his bills – food, apartment, resources, etc.
3. Not enough money to cover all the costs and groceries a) What is another way to say “secured” a job and/or an apartment? – to get a job,
to get an apartment.
b) How long did the woman use the Food Bank for? She used it until she found a better job – she used it for two months.
c) How did the mother thank the Food Bank for its’ help? She gave them a small
amount of money to thank them (to show her appreciation). Appendix
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Listening Transcript 0:00 Adrienne
Welcome to Our Edmonton. This morning, we’re at the
Edmonton Food Bank. My name’s Adrienne Lamb and we’re here
as part of the 18th annual CBC turkey drive to help the hungry in
our city. Do you know the Food Bank here in Edmonton is one of
the first Food Banks in Canada; started more than 30 years ago
and I dug into the archives to find some footage of what that
Food Bank in those early days looked like. Here’s the CBC’s
Havrid Goul with that story.
0:32 0:52
Havrid Food Bank has been used as ammunition in the battle against
Alberta’s social services cutbacks. Certainly the load on the Food
Bank has increased, since those cutbacks hit. The Food Bank
hands out 90,000 pounds of food a month in the Edmonton area.
That’s up from the first of the year. Four times as much food
goes out to the hungry every month now.
The shelves aren’t usually this full either. A thanksgiving food
drive at local churches has temporarily loaded up the
storerooms, but most of the food you see here will be gone in
less than a week. The Food Bank figures that the $60,000 from
the United Way will be well spent.
1:09 Gerard Kenny And we’ve been able to meet what has been a tremendous
increase for the demand on our services lately. But it also, it’s
allowed us to hire a third person. We run this operation with
90,000 pounds of food going in and out a month.
1:20 Havrid Havrid Goul, CBC news, Edmonton.
1:22 Adrienne Thanks Havrid. Certainly, the Edmonton Food Bank has grown in
30 years; from 3 employees to now 34 and doling out, every
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year, 3 million kilos of food to hungry Edmontonians. With me
now is the woman whose in charge, the executive director,
Margerie Benz. Hey Margerie.
1:40 Margerie Thank you for coming today.
1:42 Adrienne
Thanks for having us! I’m interested in what you do that many
people may not know about and that’s what’s in front of us here
and these are thank you cards. How many of these do you write
to people who give to the Food Bank?
1:57 2:22
Margerie I handwrite about 2000 thank you cards, every Christmas season
and um, this is a tradition we do at the Food Bank and it goes
back to over 20 years, as well. When I first became the executive
director of the organization, the board chair at that time said,
“ah, we’re privileged when people send us a kind contribution to
support our work and they hand write a cheque to us, the least
we can do is handwrite a thank you card back to them.”
Most of our donations come in from the average Albertan. So,
they give us a beautiful donation of twenty dollars, or fifty
dollars, or a hundred dollars, and they deserve to be
acknowledged and appreciated as well.
2:33 Adrienne For all of the signatures, Margerie Benz, and everything else you
do, I appreciate it, thank you very much.
2:38 Margerie Well, I don’t do it alone. We really appreciate the support of CBC,
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and of course the community and listeners and viewers that
support us.
2:43 2:53 3:23
Adrienne That’s Margerie Benz. She’s the executive director at the
Edmonton Food Bank.
I snapped a few photos of the Food Bank, I wanted to show you.
This is Serena Decanz, one of the many volunteers. Some of the
food hampers, heading out the door. And there we are: Camera-‐
man John Robertson always has my back. You can send your
photos, or comments or suggestions for upcoming shows to our
e mail at [email protected] or you can tweet me
@AdrienneLambCBC.
Welcome back to Our Edmonton. This morning we’re at the
Edmonton Food Bank. My name’s Adrienne Lamb and right now,
we’re in the cooler, where a lot of the meat comes for the Food
Bank. And with me now for more on that, is Jim Thompson. Jim is
with an organization called Hunters Who Care. Hey Jim!
3:41 Jim Hey, good morning!
3:43 Adrienne Tell me about Hunters Who Care. What do you do?
3:45 4:03
Jim Ok, we’re an organization, who just basically, we’re supported.
Its completely hunter donations from any of their harvests that
they get, we ask them to share with the community. It goes to
the Food Banks; we have both the Edmonton and the Calgary
Food Banks who take it, because they’ve got the freezing
capacity to handle the huge volumes that get donated every
year.
It goes through a handling process, so we make sure it follows all
the health regulations, and then its distributed to those in need
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in the community. We’ve been doing it for about 17 years and
we’ve contributed about a half a million meals in the community.
4:17 Adrienne Why do you do it?
4:18 Jim Thompson I do it because I love standing in deep freezers in December. No,
heh.
Um, I’m a hunter myself. I belong to different hunting
organizations. Ah, In order to pay for the processing I get the
organizations to contribute funds every year, so, it’s all self-‐
funded. And then the hunters themselves donate the meat and
I’m one of those guys, me and my family, every year donate
some and I think it’s just an opportunity to share a little bit extra
with someone whose less fortunate. Not everyone has a
deepfreeze full of food that they can get. And a lot of the soup
kitchens always, they’re looking for extra protein and uh, and
when it’s handled and prepared properly, I’ve been to some of
those meals and its excellent, ah, excellent table fare.
4:57 Adrienne Thanks for taking time. Campaign
4:59 Jim Hey, you’re welcome!
5:00 Adrienne That’s Jim Thompson. He’s with an organization Hunters That
Care. They support the Edmonton Food Bank
