Hemp For The Homeless - Thanks to all!

(click any pic for juicier view)

Friends,

This past snowy Friday, I zipped around by car and foot distributing all 50 Hemp For The Homeless "Hemp Help Kits" I'd prepared for people in need throughout Montreal.

I'd set off on the Hemp For The Homeless Project because I'd recently won $500 in a contest and decided to put it towards helping to combat homelessness which I feel is something our city should simply not have and not tolerate.

So... since I am a big believer in the unparalleled versatility and durability of the hemp plant (a crop grown without pesticides, that actually heals the land as it grows and offers Canadian farmers a sustainable wage) and the vast array of products that can be derived from it (fabric, food, paper, fuel, beauty products, construction materials, etc.), I decided to embark on a project that would put it all to good use in a new way...

(Hemp Help Kit assembly line)

I conceived of Hemp For The Homeless as a way to fuse environmentalism, healthfulness and my ongoing desire to help fellow citizens.

(The HFTH Smart stuffed with boxes of hemp kits)

Those who received the Hemp Help Kits - hemp/cotton tote bags filled with useful, nutritious and tasty products - included:

-The Old Brewery Mission's Women's Shelter
-Passages Women's Shelter
-Refuge Des Jeunes youth shelter
-A dozen kind and grateful people in need who I met in the subway and out on the cold streets.

To view the actual letter each HFTH recipient received in his or her kit, please click here.

I'd like to offer a huge thank you to the following generous people and companies who contributed (either free, at cost or well below cost) the following items to the 50 Hemp Help Kits:

-Abaka Hemp - Recycled hemp clothing fabric for the hemp paper used in the help kits. This great hemp clothing co. is based in Shawinigan, Quebec, and their products are available at Co-op La Maison Verte in NDG and other stores throughout the province.
-ALPSNACK - Delicious, nutritious and organic hemp energy bars


-Bonnie Harnden + Syd Apel - Fresh-baked oatmeal, chocolate-chip, raisin and hemp cookie recipe

(Bernard Bélanger le boulanger with hot cookies!)

-Bernard Artisanal Bakery - Fresh-baked oatmeal, chocolate-chip, raisin and hemp cookies. Bernard's delicious organic sourdough breads and cookies are available at Co-op La Maison Verte in NDG and other locations in Montreal.
-Chana Goodfriend - Help in packing the kits and readying them for delivery
-Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps - 18-in-one all-purpose fair trade organic liquid soap bottles. "All-one!", as Ralph Bronner, the company's VP says.
-EcoLips - Tasty Hemp-vanilla lip conditioner
-HT Naturals - Gorgeous long sleeve hemp/cotton T-shirts, Hemp/cotton tote bags
-La Ferme Communautaire Mange-Tout - Organic vegetables for the salads Rumi made (see below).
-Manitoba Harvest - Snack-packs of fresh hulled hemp seeds from the fields of Manitoba.
-Marie-Josée Gosselin - French translation of the project letter supplied in the kits.
-The Montreal Film Group - Web site hosting by the MFG
-Papeterie St-Armand - One-of-a-kind recycled hemp/cotton paper for the custom note-pads I added to the bags.
-Penny Idol - Startup funds courtesy of this unique contest I won. The contest is part of Montreal filmmaker Raphael Levy's upcoming short film The Hermitian Penny. My lucky 2006 penny, Juan Redscent, will be starring in this film.
-Sun Dog Hemp - Organic hemp lip balm in peppermint and orange.
-Rumi Restaurant - Delicious cole slaw, potato salad and Jerusalem artichoke salads made with organic Ferme Communautaire Mange-Tout vegetables and Manitoba Harvest fresh hemp seeds

(Todd from Rumi Restaurant on Hutchison St. with a few tasty salads)

To read the full history of Hemp For The Homeless project click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring another round of Hemp Help Kits to go out to those in need, please contact me at ezra at pressuredrop dot com

I would also like to thank everyone who voted for my penny and poem during Penny Idol and all those who encouraged me along this unforgettable journey. Your support helped in so many ways.

It's been an incredible lesson for me to see the difference one red cent can make.

Here's to your projects and dreams.


Finally, here's the CBC Radio One interview I did today with Bernard St-Laurent in case you missed it and would like to hear.


And here's the article Yahoo.ca did on Hemp For The Homeless.

Stay healthy, happy and yes, incredibly hempy.

Ez

(Ez in hemp motorcycle jacket and hemp pants holding a HFTH kit)

Further reading:

What the heck's hemp, Ezra?
Canadian homelessness Stats
HFTH backstory