I got an email from a friend about a friend of hers who had lost his job. With the economy in the shape it is he had been unable and is unlikely in the immediate future to find another job. Like so many people he was living paycheque to paycheque with no savings and now found himself looking at not only hunger, but also facing the very real prospect of homelessness.

For someone who had always been able to buy food and pay his rent it was a frightening, yet very real possibility.

Because searching for information about being homeless in Abbotsford turns up www.homelessinabbotsford.com I have been getting emails from people struggling with the prospect of homelessness etc in Abbotsford.

I had a conversation earlier tonight about a friend’s wife who was getting reduced hours at work. Fortunately for her he was still employed so that although they faced reduced income, his wife was not facing homelessness. Unlike the third party in the conversation who would be facing homelessness if she did not get more hours of work than scheduled.

With the economy in the shape it is and thousands of Canadians losing their jobs we face the potential of a tidal wave of new homeless on our streets. Even if they are fortunate and manage to hold onto their accommodations these Canadians will find themselves without money for food and thus hungry.

At the Chamber of Commerce’s recent breakfast it was noted that there were 6,000 people helped by the Abbotsford Food Bank. 6000 people needing the food bank to eat; a number that just keeps rising ever higher. Worse, 2,000 of that number were children.

We know that the Abbotsford Food Bank raises the bulk of its funds for the year during the Christmas Season. We also know that during this past Season fund raising targets were being missed, in some cases by a wide margin. News reports informed us that in the months leading up to Christmas donations of food and funds to food banks were significantly lower than the levels needed to meet the growing demand on food banks.

Which has me wondering what the current state of the Abbotsford Food Bank is and how this next year, which threatens to be one of quickly increasing need, is shaping up?

I suspect the food and funding levels are poor at best with bad, perhaps very bad, being the most likely levels. It does not matter how hard the people at the Food Bank work, the levels depend on the community.

So what are we, the community of Abbotsford, going to do about hunger and hungry children in our city, our community?

Bury our heads in the sand? Let self interest rule as it has recently? Send adults and children to bed hungry?

Or will we do whatever is necessary to make sure the shelves of the Food Bank are stocked so that people do not suffer hunger?

The choice is yours Abbotsford. Choose.