Cornwall, ON – This year during Hunger Awareness Week (September 21 – 25), the Agapè Centre will be interrupting our fascination with food to bring focus to hunger, with the help of Boston Pizza.
Canadians are obsessed with talking about the food we’re cooking and the meals we’re having. We discuss the restaurants we’re going to or want to visit with wild excitement. We photograph our food and share it on social media channels. Trending hashtags like #foodie, #nomnomnom and #yummy are common in our food-crazed lives.
Yet, as the foodie movement continues to gain momentum, so too does the usage of food banks in this country, which has increased by 25 per cent over the last seven years.*
Since the recession in 2008, Food Banks Canada reports nearly 850,000 Canadians* – 37 per cent of which are children – turn to food banks each and every month. Cornwall and area knows this need all too well. Every month, more than 1000 individuals turn to the Agapè Centre’s food bank for support, and more than 3,000 meals are served in the soup kitchen.
“Hunger is a problem here in Cornwall. It’s a challenging conversation to have, especially in Canada, since we live in a wealthy and beautiful country. So this week is really about getting people talking about hunger in our community and what we can do to help,” said Alyssa Blais, executive director of the Agapè Centre.
The local food bank and soup kitchen has partnered with Boston Pizza for the week long campaign.
“Helping in our community is very important,” said Colin Casperson, general manager at Cornwall’s Boston Pizza. “No one should go hungry. In this day and age we take so many things for granted – food should not be one of them.”
Residents of Cornwall and area are invited to participate in local events. The Agapè Centre will bring attention to hunger through the following activities during Hunger Awareness Week:

•  Boston Pizza will be serving lunch in the Agapè Centre’s soup kitchen on Monday, September 21.
•  Throughout the week, anyone who donates $20 worth of peanut butter or fresh produce to Agapè Centre will receive a voucher for a free individual pizza at Boston Pizza.
•  As a continuation with this partnership and bringing awareness to the issue of hunger in our community, the Agapè Centre will be celebrity servers at Boston Pizza on Wednesday November 25, 2015
•  The Agapè Centre will be posting on social media throughout the week. Help get the conversation about hunger going by following the organization on Facebook and sharing the posts at: www.facebook.com/centreagapecenter

Hunger Awareness Week was created to provide food banks with an opportunity to educate about the reality of hunger in Canada and to encourage all Canadians to make a choice to help those in need. Close to 850,000 individuals turn to food banks for support each month, and close to 4 million Canadians are food insecure, struggling with not knowing where their next meal may come from. Today, more than 800 food banks and 2,900 affiliated agencies work in communities across the country to assist Canadians in need.

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Original:  Agapè Centre-Boston Pizza partner for Hunger Hunger Awareness Week