Poverty Olympics torch relay begins

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Dozens of people gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery to celebrate the launch of an Olympic-style torch relay meant to draw attention to poverty in B.C. The Poverty Olympics torch left Golden today and will travel through 17 B.C communities before arriving in Vancouver on February 7th.
The relay will follow the official Olympic torch route, with the poverty torch passing through each community a few days before the Olympic torch.
Event organizer Trish Garner says the goal is to raise awareness about poverty problems in B.C. "People will be celebrating this event, and commiserating the fact that so many people live in this reality."
She says B.C. has the worst poverty rate in the country, the lowest minimum wage and the highest child poverty rate for the sixth year in a row.
The arrival of the torch on February 7th will also mark the start of the Poverty Olympics on the Downtown Eastside.
So far Garner says organizers haven't heard anything from VANOC.