'Chew on This!' Downtown Mission holds event on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Members of the Downtown Mission took to the streets of Windsor Tuesday — the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — to raise awareness for the nation-wide 'Chew on This!' campaign. 

"We're calling on the federal government to commit to a fully funded action plan on poverty," said Adam Vasey, director of advocacy and outreach at the Downtown Mission. 

"We want to make sure it has teeth, we want to make sure it allows for everyone in this country to live with dignity."

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Volunteers handed out more than 1,000 paper lunch bags which contained a snack and a postcard that said "we need a plan" to end poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness in Canada.

Recipients of the bags were encouraged to send the postcards to the federal government. 

Vasey said that the government could play an important role in addressing the "underlying systemic issues" that are forcing more and more people into poverty. He said more seniors and working-aged adults are accessing food banks, which points to the problem.

Vasey also said certain groups of Canadians face more challenges when it comes to finding work, such as people with disabilities or Indigenous people. 

"These are all groups that face unique barriers and we ... have to have approaches that are tailored to those barriers that they are facing," he said.