[Fundraising] Government and Turkeys

The following is from an email I wrote to CBC Edmonton regarding their annual Turkey Drive to raise money and food for local food banks.

I have been inspired by Ron Wilson’s morning updates on the CBC’s Turkey Drive. Yet while these kinds of charitable fundraising projects clearly demonstrate the compassionate nature of many Albertans, they simultaneously highlight the provincial government’s utter failure in the realm of social spending. It’s almost as if the citizenry has stepped in to cover the government’s lost revenue from corporate tax cuts and years of low royalties – money that could have been used to fund important social endeavors such as our food banks and shelters.

Thus I was impressed when I clicked on the CBC’s Turkey Drive link, only to find a very detailed timeline of the Alberta Government’s cuts to social spending. Thanks for making the link!

So here’s my idea: I say we pressure the provincial government into matching the number of donated turkeys (maybe even doubling the number of turkeys collected by the CBC) and force our government, for once, to take part in the same types of social spending that it’s citizens do. While the CBC's collected turkeys would go to local families in need, the government turkeys could be allocated to any community in the province.

I promise here and now – if you can get the Alberta Government to take part in the turkey drive, I will go out and buy a turkey, hop on my bike and bring it to the studio myself.

PS- If possible, we should support Alberta’s suffering small-scale farmers by purchasing turkeys from them.