Can You Feed Yourself on $24 a Week? We're Gonna Try.

January 24, 2022 2 min read

Operation Come Home has been working for 50 years to prevent at-risk homeless youth in Ottawa from becoming homeless adults. At Knifewear, we've supported them for over six years through donations and special events, including giving half of our annual sharpening proceeds from the Ottawa store. Our Ottawa store manager, Lordy, is also on their board of directors.

One of their youth was recently housed, and when all expenses are accounted for she has on average $24 per week leftover - for food.

A number of our staff including Lordy, Alex, Meghan, Mike, Adam, Nathan, and myself, have joined Operation Come Home's fundraising challenge this year: to live on just $24 worth of food for the week of February 6-12. Rather their goal being to "walk a mile", their aim is to raise awareness for food insecurity, and raise funds through donation to fund Operation Come Home's efforts. The Knifewear foundation will be matching all funds raised by Team Knifewear during the challenge!

Being a cook for 20+ years means I lived on low, and for many years, poverty wages. Eating wasn't usually a huge concern for me, luckily, as I would usually eat a couple meals a day at work. Most people struggling with low wages are not as fortunate.

Many of us think nothing of spending $24 for a bottle of wine or a steak, so feeding myself on $24 for a whole week last year was a challenge and an eye-opening experience. I've already been eyeing the wild Hares that are so plentiful around my house as a free source of protein. Who knows what will happen.

We've started a donation page, and anything you can give makes a difference. Let's make a difference in the lives of houseless youth and raise awareness about food insecurity!

Donate Now!

Kevin Kent

Knifewear owner and president Kevin Kent’s fascination with handcrafted Japanese knives began while he was working as sous-chef for the legendary chef Fergus Henderson at St. John restaurant in London, England. Back in Canada in 2007 he began selling them out of a backpack from the back of his bicycle, while working as a chef in Calgary. He considers his chef years as the best education for being an entrepreneur. Being a chef takes long hours, involves hard work, both mentally and physically, and chefs must be able to put out fires, both literal and figurative, with extreme competence. Today, Kent is still just as obsessed with Japanese knives as the day he first held one.

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Can You Feed Yourself on $24 a Week? We're Gonna Try.

Kevin Kent

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