{"id":425,"date":"2022-12-06T23:34:35","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T23:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/?p=425"},"modified":"2023-02-17T16:46:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T16:46:03","slug":"vulnerable-calgarians-see-an-outpouring-of-kindness-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/writing\/reportage\/vulnerable-calgarians-see-an-outpouring-of-kindness-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Vulnerable Calgarians see an outpouring of kindness for the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published in <\/a><\/em>The Press<\/a> on Dec. 5, 2022.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Yodel Club Heimattreu sings carols at the Knox United Church in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. In keeping with Austrian choral traditions, gentlemen sing with their hands in their pockets. (Photo by Iris Young\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kindness is alive and well in Calgary this holiday season as various groups mobilize in creative ways to help vulnerable citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the biggest campaign that we have going on for Christmas would be our 12 Days of Giving \u2014 kind of a play on the \u201812 days of Christmas,\u2019\u201d said Paige Reimer, social media content creator for The Mustard Seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Christian non-profit organization, The Mustard Seed provides care and support for people experiencing homelessness in five cities across Alberta and British Columbia, including Calgary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting Dec. 12, the organization will request city-specific donations to fulfill the Christmas wishes of vulnerable individuals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe consider what our Calgary citizens need. Of course, Christmas means winter, so we need more winter items, like jackets and boots,\u201d said Reimer. \u201cThose tend to go pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally, an abundance of food is synonymous with the holidays. However, according to research published by the University of Toronto\u2019s PROOF, Alberta had the highest rate of food insecurity in Canada<\/a> in 2021. With food and grocery prices up by 9.2 per cent since 2021<\/a>, an increase in food bank use can be expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this year\u2019s holidays, the Calgary Food Bank continues to fight hunger in Calgary through a series of fun and engaging activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running until Dec. 31 is the Mayor\u2019s Holiday Food Drive<\/a>, which Mayor Jyoti Gondek kicked off on Nov. 19 with the 30th Annual Stuff-a-Bus event. This year, the mayor further initiated the Councillor\u2019s Challenge, wherein each of the city\u2019s 14 wards competes to collect the most food for the food bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFood is the first and the last thing that comes right off the budget. That\u2019s why, especially with increasing food prices and inflation, it becomes harder and harder for people to make ends meet,\u201d said Betty Jo Kaiser, the food bank\u2019s communications coordinator and master of ceremonies for the Calgary Carol Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1978, Knox United Church has hosted the festival, showcasing choirs from various communities and ethnic groups around Calgary. This year\u2019s event, which ran from Nov. 25 to 28, is the first after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Humberto Vargas, left, vigorously directs the Voix des Rocheuses as Colleen Roller plays the piano at the Knox United Church in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. This choral group is made up of former Quebec residents. (Photo by Iris Young\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year, we added another night because we just used to have three nights,\u201d said festival coordinator Arthur Barbosa. \u201cLots of choirs wanted to do it again, so this is kind of like a real outpouring of wanting to get back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an optional food bank donation as the price of admission, spectators enjoyed being serenaded with beloved carols from all over the world and even participated in carol singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really for anyone. If you can\u2019t afford to go to concerts or something like that, this is a perfect opportunity to listen to some really good music,\u201d said Barbosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis event is an act of kindness in a lot of different ways. Of course, it\u2019s for the food bank, but it\u2019s also basically for people\u2019s mental health. Music has a big impact on mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The food bank has long recognized the link between<\/a> mental health and food insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the amazing part about Christmas time,\u201d Reimer said. \u201cWe look at it as a very selfish holiday, that it\u2019s all about getting gifts, but I disagree. I think it\u2019s so much more than giving gifts; it\u2019s about sharing what you do have with those who don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kindness is alive and well in Calgary this holiday season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-published","category-reportage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iriswrites.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}