Driving back from Mission on Saturday I caught the $13 dollar BMW radio ad. For kids $13 is babysitting or allowance, for an adult – pocket money … or for $13 per day you can drive a BMW.

They missed an important $13 fact. For many people $13 is their weekly food budget; for some $13 is their entire monthly food budget.

These thoughts arose Saturday because I had swung by a dinner served for the homeless and hungry in Mission. The woman who is the driving force behind the dinner was surprised and a little distressed because all the food was gone so quickly and so early.

This was the biggest turnout she has ever had at one of her dinners. There are more and more people coming to eat who have housing but with the increases in housing and other components of the cost of living they have no money to feed themselves hamburger or even hotdogs, much less fresh vegetables or fresh fruit.

All the food for these meals is by donation (Tara 604-855-5839) and the preparation, cooking, serving and cleanup is by volunteers.

I swung by to talk because I wanted to ask if they were seeing the same increase in numbers and demand for food to feed the hungry as we are experiencing in Abbotsford. As I said – they are.

Increasing numbers of people are well past recommended guidelines for what percentage of your income should go to cover housing costs, with more and more spending 90% and over to pay for a place to live.

Our streets overflow with homeless and increasing numbers of people are just hanging on to housing. All these people are hungry and in need of food.

Please keep this in mind and contribute when you can to our local food banks and/or those people and groups who prepare and serve meals for the hungry. Take time to ask politicians at all levels of government why in a great country like Canada so many are going to bed hungry.

There is a property in Abbotsford that has two underground oil tanks buried on it, probably left from the time in the 1940 – 50s when it was a gas station. The property is so contaminated that not only do you smell the oil, you taste in your throat.

It sits on the corner of Sumas Way and 4th Avenue just north of the Canada/USA Huntington border crossing. To improve traffic flow across the border major road construction was done involving 4th Avenue.

As a result of this work, every time it rains, this corner property is flooded 5 – 15 cm deep in rain water runoff. The rainwater is contaminated when it runs onto the property, leaving an oily sheen on everything it touches.

Unfortunately for the environment and the neighbours most of these contaminated flood waters do not remain on the property in question but runoff onto the neighbouring properties and into the ditches spreading contaminated water over a wide area.

Governments at the municipal, provincial and federal levels have all been informed of this problem. The result? Nothing. Nada. Zip. No government or government agency at any level seems interested in taking action to remedy this spreading environmental pollution.

Since governments had failed to respond, much less act, a number of well known environmental non-profits were contacted, informed of what was occurring and asked for help/advice. The result? Nothing.

I was not totally shocked when governments at all levels tried to avoid the cost of dealing with this contamination, leaving it to some other level of government to take appropriate action – and get stuck with the bill. But these from organizations that are about protection the environment?

I suppose there is just not enough potential for publicity and/or fundraising in this small environmental contamination. But still one would think …

The property sits there ignored while every time it rains the surrounding environment becomes more contaminated and the contamination spreads further and further.

I am fresh out of ideas on how to get this contamination dealt with; it just leaves me totally flummoxed.