Mr. Speaker, approximately 120,000 people in the Ottawa region live below the poverty line and around 30,000 of them receive food assistance every month. Nearly half of those receiving food are children.
To help some of those in need during the holiday season, the parliamentary interns with the support of the Canadian Bankers Association have decided to organize a food drive. The food drive will take place between December 8 and 12. Boxes will be placed for the collection of non-perishable foods in five locations: the offices of the hon. members for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Lac-Saint-Louis, Hillsborough, Calgary Southeast and Halifax West.
The parliamentary interns are also going to visit our offices for a reminder and to collect food or money for the food bank. We invite everybody working on the Hill to be generous. Many families count on our support.