Band-aids for hunger pains

By Kris Kotarski

The Campus Food Bank recently recieved $600 worth of help from the Calgary Catholic Board of Education Support Staff Association and former provincial New Democrat Party candidate Susan Scott.

Through the joint effort, food donations were delivered to the University of Calgary to aid needy students. The food drive took place last week in MacEwan Hall.

"I wanted to highlight student poverty," said Scott, the ND candidate for Calgary Varsity. "[Under-funding] is criminal in a province with such a high surplus."

"Let’s bring out the need for increased funding in education," added CCBESSA President Marie Saunders. "We have a lot of teachers in the Catholic School Board [who]’re probably paying off their student loans."

The food drive was a joint effort because, as Scott remarked, the two groups "have the same concerns."

"We don’t think students should study while hungry," she said. "Going door-to-door I talked to many students who have these problems."

According to Scott, while food banks are a good place to begin, they are not the way to end student poverty.

"Food banks are band-aid solutions," she said. "We need to look at the root of the problems, as well as handing out band-aids."

Students’ Union Vice-president External Duncan Wojtaszek, who helped co-ordinate the drive, was glad to see some external acknowledgement of students’ issues.

"They’ve done an incredible job," he said. "It’s nice to see members of the public take notice of the problem."

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