I strongly believe that Everyone should have their biological/physiological basic needs met.  This believe especially applies to individuals who are dependent upon others.  Including children, elderly and individuals who are unable to care for themselves.

Biological/physiological  basic needs are:

  1. access to clean drinking water
  2. food
  3. shelter which includes warmth
  4. clothing
  5. A safe place to sleep

…children are rarely seen as the major victims of poverty

https://botf.ca/uploadedfiles/Public/SocialJustice/Issues/Poverty/Resource/overview.html

How can this be when we know that children who live in poverty more likely feel like a failure, and have a sense of hopelessness about their future.  Children who live in poverty and do not have access to their basic needs have a high rate of developing mental health problems.  If there is something we as a society can do to prevent children developing mental health problems then I believe we should.

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today

-Stacia Tauscher

170,000 children in our province of British Columbia are living without one or more of their basic needs.  That is one in five children who live right here in our province.  That’s children that come to daycare with hungry bellies, or exhausted because they do not have a safe or suitable place to sleep.  We all have the means to help by donating, volunteering or by informing families that we feel are at risk to the correct resource to help.  As shown below many families that are in need of such services as the food bank are not utilizing them.

Locally here in Cumberland their is a great program provided by the Cumberland Community School Society called “The Cumberland Food Share”. This food share is being used by many families in the community by delivering food and supplies to 21 families weekly and by an outdoor food pantry that is available 24/7 for anyone in need.  This program was put together out of need when the current pandemic closed the school.  The closure of schools meant that 51 students in the community of Cumberland alone lost access to regular meals through the hot lunch program.  The Cumberland Food Share is helping to make sure that these students as well as many others have healthy, fresh food to eat.  There website is www.cumberlandcommunityschools.com there are many different ways to provide help to these individuals.

Small things do make a difference in providing help and a solution so please get out there and help children who are at risk and who are hurting silently.

A person is a person no matter how small

-Dr Seuss

 

References

https://bctf.ca/uploadedfiles/Public/SocialJustice/Issues/Poverty/Resource/overview.html

https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/

Cumberland Food Share

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/ending-child-poverty/what-are-the-effects-of-child-poverty