We are just over two weeks away from the launch of our 16th Reality Campaign, and we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has grown the event and made it a success over the years. We started in 2003, with a small, huddled group of four people on a Rideau street corner. Last year we held four successful events, beginning with a 30-plus group of individuals dedicated to ending youth homelessness huddled on a Bank street corner. We’ve come a long way!
But there are still homeless youth, and that means we still have a way to go. Join us again this year for our Reality Campaign, which will once again kick off with the 24-Hours-of-Homelessness event, January 24th-25th outside the Royal Oak at Bank & Gloucester, less than a block away from Operation Come Home. You can sign up for the event now (by emailing lynda@operationcomehome.ca), make a donation to our dedicated volunteers here, or just stop by to say hello while we huddle outside once more!
Up next is our Super Bowl party! February 3rd, Buster’s Bar and Grill in Lincoln Fields, join our team as we blow off some steam, share some great food and a few pints, and watch the Rams eke out a hard-fought victory over the Chiefs! We will have a ton of great prizes, some not-for-profit gambling, all kinds of pre-game games, and many ways you can help out OCH while having a great time at a huge party!
You know what comes after a huge Super Bowl party? A cleanup! Did you know that you can return all your empties to OCH, and BottleWorks will issue you a tax receipt? We have come a long way with BottleWorks, and this year turned a profit for the first time ever. A social enterprise turning a profit is not something that happens often. And with that in mind, we want to capitalize on our success by expanding the program.
The week after the Super Bowl, we’re doing a massive bottle drive for Bottle Works! Still have empties left over from the game? From Christmas? New Year’s? Thanksgiving? Or maybe just from Tuesday? Bring them to us, or send Sam an email (bottleworks@operationcomehome.ca) to arrange for a pickup – and that tax receipt! If we can collect enough bottles that week (February 4th – 11th) we’re hoping we can afford a whole second truck for BottleWorks, to double our business and double the number of youth we can employ every year!
The Reality Campaign closes with the highly anticipated annual Poor Chefs competition. February 21st at City Hall, join host Steph (The Grilling Gourmet) Legari and celebrity judges Paula Roy (Constantly Cooking), Anne DesBrisay (Capital Dining), Sandra Plagakis (KISS-FM), and Catherine McKenney (city council). Five of the best chefs in all of Ottawa will be competing for the title, making the best dishes they can with just $3.10 worth of ingredients, plus an item from the Food Bank. Returning to defend the title will be Chef Kris Kshonze of Soif Bar A Vin. Ticket info coming soon!
Between our Bottle Drive and the Poor Chefs competition, February 12th – 19th, we bring you our #RealityCheck week. We will share the stories of our youth. Who they are, what they do, where they are going. Some of those will be hard to read. But we hope that you do, because this is, really, the only reality in our Reality Campaign.
Sleeping outside for 24 hours is a way to call attention to the homeless in our community, but it in no way replicates the homeless experience. Neither does a Super Bowl party, a bottle drive, or chefs spending very little money to create a brilliant dish using their training, their high-end kitchen equipment, and their access to very small quantities of cardamom. (We derive the $3,10 amount from the Ontario Works amount one of our youth would likely receive – after everything else is spent, they have about $3,10/day for food. Per DAY.)
The #RealityCheck week IS reality. It is what our youth go through every day. It is what led them to the street in the first place. It is the obstacles they face that keep them there. And, occasionally, it is a story that ends happily. With education, addiction counseling, employment opportunities or housing provided by Operation Come Home, some of these stories will be about youth who made it. Others will be about those who have not made it yet. They will not be asking for your help, your sympathy, or your understanding. They know that most of us can’t understand. What they will want is your ear, and your attention. Which is what, really, the Reality Campaign is all about.