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Charity's woes mirror society's

The fact the Mustard Seed Street Church, which operates Greater Victoria’s largest food bank, recently took out a second mortgage on a piece of its property just to help pay the bills, is an indication that the financial balance may be as out of whack as the Occupy Victoria crowd says it is.

It’s a sign of the times.

The fact the Mustard Seed Street Church, which operates Greater Victoria’s largest food bank, recently took out a second mortgage on a piece of its property just to help pay the bills, is an indication that the financial balance may be as out of whack as the Occupy Victoria crowd says it is.

The food bank division of the church is holding its own from a food donation perspective.

But as food bank director Brent Palmer stated, you can’t fuel trucks with turnips. If the Mustard Seed doesn’t have enough money to pay its operating expenses, there won’t be a food bank left to provide the basic food necessities for those working families struggling to make ends meet.

We’re getting close to the time when an increasing number of charities – all well-deserving – will be soliciting for donations. Such a scenario makes the Mustard Seed’s situation that much more difficult.

Rather than imploring individuals to dig deeper to help out this cash-strapped charity, why not take an page out of Occupy’s book and ask profitable companies to help, out of compassion.

There are many great corporate citizens operating in the Capital Region that make donations on a regular basis, some of which do so with little fanfare.

Our hope is that companies continuing to thrive in recessionary times, such as the big banks, or a corporate entity looking at expansion plans, shift the focus from increasing  its profitability for a moment and consider helping a critically needed charity make it through this rough financial period.

The Mustard Seed receives no government grants, surviving almost solely on the generosity of donors, so taxpayers are not paying twice to help them operate.

Helping feed people in our communities will no doubt provide payback for any successful company that chooses to step up to the plate in this situation.