NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: Jan. 29, 2008

POVERTY OLYMPICS TO HIGHLIGHT BROKEN PROMISES

What do Itchy the Bedbug, Creepy the Cockroach and Chewy the Rat have in
common with the 2010 Olympics? They are the mascots of the first annual
Poverty Olympics to be held on Feb. 3, 2008, just in time for the two-year
countdown to the 2010 Winter Games. The event will take place at the
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main St. in Vancouver, from 1-4 pm.

The fun-filled afternoon will feature a torch relay, opening ceremony, and
Poverty Olympics "events" such as the Welfare Hurdles, Poverty Line High
Jump, and Long Jump over a Bedbug-Infested Mattress. The highlight of the
opening ceremony will be the lighting of the 15-foot high End Poverty
Torch.

"While it's going to be fun, we do have a serious message," said organizer
Wendy Pedersen of Carnegie Community Action Project. "We want the world to
know that Vancouver and BC have world-class poverty and homelessness. We
hope international reaction to the poverty situation in Vancouver will
spur our governments to use their massive surpluses to end poverty and
homelessness." BC had a $4 billion surplus last year, yet still has the
highest rate of child poverty in Canada, at 21 per cent.

The Organizing Committee for the first annual Poverty Olympics has written
to the International Olympic Committee to request funding for future
Poverty Olympics and to urge the IOC to press the city, province and
federal government to implement commitments to improve social assistance
and build housing.

The four partners of the 2010 Winter Games (Vancouver, VANOC, BC, and
Canada) have failed to implement unanimous recommendations made by their
own Inner City Inclusive Housing Table to increase welfare rates 50%, end
barriers to getting on welfare that are making people homeless, and build
3200 units of housing between 2007 and 2010. Unless strong action is taken
immediately, there could be more homeless on Vancouver streets than
athletes competing in the 2010 Games.

Groups involved in organizing the Poverty Olympics include Raise the
Rates, Carnegie Community Action Project, Streams of Justice, BC Persons
With AIDs Society, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, and the Downtown
Eastside Neighbourhood House.

The Poverty Olympics Organizing Committee plans to inform international
media of the event and the poverty and homelessness situation in
Vancouver.

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http://povertyolympics.ca