Redeemer University College students in a social welfare policy class joined more than 500 volunteers in nearly 40 cities across Canada to urge the federal government to develop a national poverty reduction plan. The students participated in the campaign \u2013 called Chew On This! \u2013 by handing out lunch bags with an apple, postcard, magnet and a short elevator pitch about why it\u2019s time for a federal policy on poverty reduction. The campaign is run by the anti-poverty organization Dignity for All. The organization marked October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. According to \u201cCanada Without Poverty,\u201d seven provinces and two territories have adopted poverty reduction plans. Graham Milner, an organizer with Dignity For All explained, \u201cThousands of Canadians are demanding the federal government establish a plan to eradicate poverty and hunger for the nearly 900,000 people in Canada who use food banks each month and for the millions of others struggling to get by.\u201d Student Lana Burchell was encouraged by the responses as she handed out bags by a grocery store: \u201cThree women were loading groceries into their trunk. When I told them about the campaign, they said they would love to support it, because they were actually buying groceries for the food bank in their community!\u201d Most of the students had never done something like this before. \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to be challenged to try something new,\u201d said Dr. Jim Vanderwoerd, the instructor of the third-year Social Welfare Policy course in Redeemer\u2019s Sociology\/Social Work program. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to discuss poverty in the safe comfort of the classroom, but it\u2019s entirely different to have that conversation with a stranger in a parking lot.\u201d Students in the Social Welfare Policy course study federal and provincial policies that deal with social problems facing many Canadians. But, studying policy is about more than just laws and regulations. According to Vanderwoerd, \u201cSocial policy might seem dry and boring but it touches all of us. We\u2019re talking about real people with real problems who depend on the policies that Canada has created to care for one another.\u201d Hands-on experiences such as these are often what make the most impact in students\u2019 learning. Redeemer is continuing to expand its experiential learning opportunities, and these activities provide tangible ways to connect what they\u2019re learning in the classroom to real-world experiences. Participating in this campaign is just one of the many activities that students in Sociology\/Social Work courses can anticipate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chew On This! Redeemer students campaign to end poverty","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":{"sub_title":null,"post_featured_image":null,"post_image_vertical_position":null,"post_hero":null,"post_featured":null,"post_featured_order":null,"post_hide_me":null,"use_drop_cap_and_lead_in":null,"lead_in_num_words":null,"hide_recent_articles_sidebar":null,"hide_popular_stories_in_body":null,"cover_story":null,"cover_artwork":null,"cover_photo":null,"related_faculty_members":null,"related_academic_programs":null,"search_keywords_and_synonyms":null},"yoast_head":"\n