For Brianna Fredericks and her unborn child, Saturday's Chilli Blanket rally in front of the Prince George courthouse offered short-term comfort and long-term relief to ward off the cold of winter.
A cup of chili and some hot chocolate warmed her belly and eased the hunger pangs and she found a winter jacket to keep her warm for the chilly days ahead.
"I came here for a winter jacket but I got more than that," said the 20-year-old Fredericks, who lives at the downtown AWAC (Association Advocating for Women and Children) women's shelter until she can find her own place.
"I got a sweater and some pants. I need stretchy pants because I'm pregnant. I think this is really good because there's not that many people here who can afford this stuff. I wasn't able to afford a winter jacket this season and that's why I came here."
The 10th annual rally is organized annually by the Northern Women's Forum, an ad-hoc organization of Prince George-area women who belong to trade unions.
Moses Nickol, 62, works part-time for the St. Vincent de Paul Society and he sees firsthand the need of people who have fallen on hard times. He picks up towels left behind at the city's two public swimming pools and delivers them to the shelters. He also sees the long lineups of hungry people waiting every day for lunch and dinner -- and those lines aren't getting any shorter.
"It's bad, too many people don't have anything and they live month-to-month," said Nickol. "It's hard for them to go through that. It could be a cold winter this year. We get between 160 and 200 people coming for food every day over there. A lot of them are coming from Vancouver. They said the food's better here."
Nickol says part of the solution is for governments to create more work programs to help people get back on their feet.
"I'm 62 and I'm still looking for a job," he said. "I went up to where they're building houses by Wal-Mart and they told me I had to have a Grade 12 education. I've only got Grade 6. That's pretty hard."
Robert Anatole, 55, left the rally holding some clothes and a rolled-up blanket under his arm.
"I'm just worried about my kids, they're OK because they're in a group home, but I just wanted to give them some extra clothes when I have my visit," said Anatole.
About 100 people showed up for the noon-hour rally at Wilson Square. John Wipfli, 67, managed to get a blanket for himself and his brother to share before they were all gone.
"This is good for the people to help them out," said Wipfli. "I think they need more shelters for people, they should use all these empty buildings downtown."
Rally organizer and Women's Forum chair Jan Mastromatteo said the purpose of the event is to help the people who were fed and took home blankets and clothing, and to highlight the effects of government cuts to social services budgets.
"This is an anti-poverty protest, and with this crowd I think we need more blankets," said Mastromatteo. "We've been out here since 2003, since all the cuts started with the Liberal government. They've cut back all social services incredibly, in draconian ways that haven't occurred in the rest of Canada.
"Healthcare, education, services around the criminal justice system, those directly affect the disadvantaged. Even worse, this government sold the province with things like BC Rail and our raw logs heading off to other parts of the world. Our role is to make a loud noise and get the public's attention. It's through taxation we get social programs. We need to make the rich pay some tax."
