The Saskatchewan Roughriders are preparing to tackle hunger and the Toronto Argonauts.
This year’s Saskatchewan-based Purolator Tackle Hunger food drive is slated for Thursday, when the Roughriders play host to Toronto (7 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
Attendees are invited to bring along a non-perishable food item or to make a monetary donation, via tap, to support the Regina Food Bank.
All contributors are invited to have their picture taken with the Grey Cup before the game at Coors Light Party in the Park.
Donations can also be made online
“When we hear ‘food bank,’ everybody thinks about non-perishables, but when you spend time around those facilities, you understand how much more than food that food banks provide for families in need,” Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace said.
“Tackle Hunger has been around the league for as long as I can remember. What a great initiative. I’m hoping that, as a community, we can rally together and do what we always do — be the tops in the league in community endeavours.
“I’m really happy that we can be part of the initiative for another year. I hope we do our thing in that regard.”
So does Miles Brown, who has appeared in Tackle Hunger promotions alongside defensive line colleague Anthony Lanier II.
“I think it’s important that we all do our part to assist anyone who needs any kind of help,” Brown said.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that people are dealing with problems such as hunger.”
Brown saw the problems first-hand when he travelled to Kenya with representatives of World Vision Canada during the off-season.
“I was fortunate enough to be selected to go by the team,” he said. “It was a beautiful, beautiful experience.
“That visit put a lot of things in perspective for me. I realized that there are people who are genuinely and truly without. Sometimes they don’t even have a way to get it. They don’t even know how to do it.
“Sometimes you hear about certain situations or certain conditions that people are living in. It’s tough to completely understand, because you’ve never experienced it. I still don’t completely understand, because I didn’t experience it. I just watched it.
“To see people who don’t have access to water is the most insane thing I’ve ever experienced. They don’t have any water. There’s zero water. You get it from a tank.
“I remember some days we would be going somewhere and there would be children on a highway and they’d have the yellow barrels to put their water in.”
“They’d walk several hours to get water and bring the water home. That’s their day. No school. No social life. No social media. When they have the opportunity to go to school, it’s like, ‘I’m taking advantage of this — 100 per cent!’ ”
Brown speaks from the standpoint of someone who has spent off-seasons working with kids at the UNIQUE Learning Center in Washington, D.C.
“At the group home back home, there were some situations where kids would go, ‘It’s a Monday, man. I’m not going to school,’ ” he said.
“With those kids in Kenya, it’s like, ‘Give me an opportunity to go to school.’ The kids are so intelligent and so smart. They speak so well. They’re literally like young adults and they’re nine, 10 or 11. It’s kind of crazy.”
Some 13,000 kilometres away, in Regina, Brown is also committed to doing his part to improve the lives of children — and people of all ages — by participating in endeavours such as Tackle Hunger.
“I’m a believer in lending a hand when you can,” he said.
“I think that for people who are able to help, it’s important that we do help.”
