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Removing barriers at the ballot box
As the need for food banks is reaching record highs, voter turnout in our community is reaching record lows.
There are many barriers stopping people from making it to the ballot box.
After paying rent and utilities, on average our community members only have about $7 per day to spend on food, transportation, medication and all other expenses. It’s not easy getting to the polls when getting there eats into your food budget.
The No. 1 reason people walk through our doors is the high cost of rent, and far too many don’t even have a permanent place to call home. It’s not easy exercising your right to vote when you don’t have a permanent address.
That’s why North York Harvest Food Bank held a Community BBQ to Get Out the Vote on Sunday, April 13.
We had free food, games, raffles, face-painting, advocacy, and free transportation taking attendees to the polls to cast their vote.
Over 600 people attended the BBQ throughout the day, with 75 folks heading to the polls. Many community members who voted said if it weren’t for this initiative, they wouldn’t have been able to vote.
Watch a short highlight reel from our BBQ below!
That week, our Community Engagement team also visited each of our four food spaces to shuttle over 100 clients to vote and ensure no one was turned away from exercising their right to vote. For some, it was their very first time voting.
“This whole initiative, whether it was the BBQ or the shuttles from our food banks to the polling station was really just about making sure the people most impacted by the affordability crisis are having their voices heard in this election,” says North York Harvest’s Senior Advocacy Specialist Chiara Padovani.
By removing barriers in the voting process, nearly 200 community members cast their ballot this federal election!
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