Ice storm sheds light on dark problem

When the power went out on Dec. 22, I was one of the lucky ones in Durham Region. I was only in the dark for 12 hours. Others were left without power for days.

In Toronto there were thousands of people who went without power for upwards of a week while crews attempted to fix the grid. It was a cold, frustrating time for a lot of people.

When the idea of distributing grocery store cards came about I thought it was a good idea for the people hardest hit. If you're living on a fixed income or on social assistance and are forced, through no fault of your own, to throw out spoiled food thanks to a prolonged power outage it's nice to know the help is there. Fifty dollars for single people or $100 per family couldn’t be considered a lot but it’s more than enough when you look at the alternative – nothing.

Then the stories of the lineups for the grocery store cards started being reported in the media. Demand outstripped supply. In just three days $842,600 worth of grocery store gift cards were distributed in Toronto, more than quadruple what was expected.

This week another $450,000 in grocery store cards will be given out in Durham Region (Jan. 9), Northumberland County (Jan. 8), Dufferin County, Halton Region, City of Hamilton, Peel Region, Waterloo Region, Wellington County and York Region. It's a safe bet the gift cards being distributed won't be nearly enough for the number of people who will lineup for them. Like what happened in Toronto there will be many people turned away empty-handed.

When news of these frustrated, hungry people comes in it won't surprise me and I know it won't surprise you. However, what I find most startling about this whole situation is the number of people who need the grocery store cards. Knowing there are people living at or near the poverty level is one thing but seeing just a fraction of them lining up for grocery store cards puts the issue into a startling perspective.

That should be a wake up call for all of us, including the government officials supervising the distribution of the grocery cards. Poverty sucks but it’s what happens when middle class jobs disappear leaving people desperate and willing to lineup for grocery store cards to feed themselves.

Being a member of the media I hear the calls from food banks calling for donations because year after year there’s a greater need. Unfortunately these stories aren’t unusual, they’re the norm. Then Mother Nature shows her ugly side highlighting an already difficult situation.

The ice storm was traumatic on all of us for many different reasons. When the lights came back on our real problems came to light and sadly, they had nothing to do with storm.