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Buzz Feed
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Universal Signs Trivia Quiz — BuzzFeed Quizzes
Admit all gone on a date with someone super cute from class, only to find out their mom still does their laundry and the only thing they can 'cook' is Kraft Dinner. Turns out, adulting is kind of sexy. We all want to be someone who can take care of ourselves — and, ideally, find someone we don't have to literally parent. Because if you're still putting the noodles in before the water might just be a red flag. So if you're a grown-ass adult who's been doing laundry since age 10, or just trying to escape your helicopter parents, let's see how well you know these universal symbols. You know, the kind everyone should recognize…for the good of society. Let's go... Tell us how you did in the comments. Want a fun signage fact? (Words I truly never thought I'd say.) Even though signs and symbols can vary by country, region, or city, there's actually an international organization — the ISO — that helps standardize them. Because let's be real: It'd be wildly inconvenient (and unsafe!) if every country had a different symbol for 'stop' or 'flammable.' Staying alive should be a universal language — and honestly, I'm very on board with that. And for more fun quizzes and content, make sure you follow BuzzFeed Canada on TikTok and Instagram!
Winnipeg Free Press
09-08-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Step out of that stifling summer-holiday silo
Opinion Here at Sir William Stephenson Library, the tension is mounting. Five families have gathered in the programming space and arranged themselves around various tables to participate in what the library has called the 'Ultimate Building Challenge.' We had to register in advance, and we even received a followup phone call to confirm we'd be attending. For those of us who are parenting full-time while school is out, the opportunities and ideas for filling the days are now pretty threadbare, as is the summer budget. In trying to preserve resources for camping trips and beach days, we must make these city days enjoyable and adventurous without breaking the bank. So we're here at the library. At one station, we're challenged to build a table that can support an encyclopedia (remember those?) using only old copies of the Free Press and tape. At another stop, dry spaghetti and marshmallows are the building materials. Another station provides only index cards and scissors. As simple as the setup is, it's actually quite engaging, and I'm resisting the urge to take over my kids' building projects. I take a minute to survey the other tables. Over there, a mom is stacking red drink cups, her tongue out the corner of her mouth as she carefully balances them one on top of the other. At the station with index cards, two moms are working together, having erected a structure of interwoven cards, held together by interlacing them using small slits that have been cut for the purpose. All the kids are working too, but they've largely been left to their own devices. My own are busy with the spaghetti and marshmallows. We moms are in it to win it — and now library staff members have noticed. 'Wow, the moms are really kind of ruling this challenge, eh?' one says to a co-worker. Yes, we are, and we start to joke among ourselves that the library really should host separate events for adults in the neighbourhood to facilitate families getting to know one another. It's an interesting idea. I don't know any of these women. I don't live anywhere near this library. We ended up here in an act of desperation seeking out budget-friendly summer activities, but this exchange got me thinking about the loneliness of summer parenting. Life just isn't as amenable anymore to this kind of cross-parental friend-making. Gone are the long phone conversations while stirring the Kraft Dinner or feeding the baby. Instead, I have podcasts for company during the times my kids are occupied, and I make arrangements for them to see their friends via text messages. There is no preamble, no check-in to see how another mom's summer is going. It's all business. So this is where our afternoon at the library ended up so refreshing. There was nothing 'business' about it. I'd be willing to bet we all have spaghetti and marshmallows at home, and some of us would even have copies of the Free Press and a few rolls of tape. There's no reason we couldn't have done this with our own children, in our own homes. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. But we didn't. We came to the library, because community still matters, getting the kids out of the house still matters, and the public library still matters as a meeting place and a community resource. It's August, and we're tired. We're waging war with the iPad time limits and the cost of groceries. Some days are a loop of feeding kids and cleaning up, and there's actually very little adult company unless we actively seek it out. And we're out of practice with the kind of casual conversation that builds friendships and fosters understanding. But we're also lucky to live in a city that does provide free programming for families, not just at libraries, but at the pools and community centres as well. Places to meet the people otherwise silently siloed in their own version of summer and to challenge some of that adult isolation. I agree with the mom at the library who suggested offering light and silly adult programming such as the building challenge. In the meantime, if you're feeling like getting together to do some spaghetti-and-marshmallow engineering, you have my e-mail address. Rebecca Chambers Rebecca explores what it means to be a Winnipegger by layering experiences and reactions to current events upon our unique and sometimes contentious history and culture. Her column appears alternating Saturdays. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hamilton Spectator
31-07-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Food pantry changes access model to give more dignity to clients
The Helping Hands food pantry is adopting a unique approach to addressing food security in the city. Since May, the food pantry has been offering a choice model, where people can enter the grocery store-style pantry and select what they need for their family, rather than receiving a hamper. 'We've had folks standing in here crying because they've never had access to milk before or cheese, or that they can make Kraft Dinner for their kids,' said Erika Gilroy, Helping Hands development co-ordinator. The pantry features a fridge stocked with essentials like milk and butter, a freezer filled with frozen items such as fries, bread and meats, and shelves filled with a variety of dry and canned goods. Allowing people to choose gives them more dignity and has also reduced the amount of food distributed to clients. 'Less food is actually being taken than when it was in hampers,' said Dalyce Sather-McNabb, Northreach Society executive director. Northreach Society amalgamated with Helping Hands over the past year. 'There's actually more food to go around when people are given the opportunity to choose.' Gilroy said that many people accessing the food bank and their pantry have never needed to before. 'Grande Prairie is full of a lot of financial gain, but there's also a lot of struggle, unfortunately,' she said, 'we're seeing a lot of seniors, a lot of people with disabilities, and a lot of families, mostly single parents, coming into access services here.' She said that some families are making choices between rent or mortgage and groceries. 'It could happen to anybody; anybody can be in a situation where they might need help from Helping Hands or other food security places in Grande Prairie.' Still, Helping Hands wants to ensure a low barrier of access for those in the community, so it does not have an onerous application process or require financial information. 'Very few people actually abuse the system; they're hungry, they need food, their children are hungry and they need food, so keeping access as low a barrier as possible is part of the goal,' said Sather-McNabb. City council approved $160,000 last year to Helping Hands to fund a pilot project to create a backbone organization that would make a co-ordinated approach to addressing food insecurity in Grande Prairie and focus on long-term solutions. The city said the goal was not to remove any organizations in the city that provide food. 'With Helping Hands being the backbone organization, it would never be about eliminating any of the other organizations or what they do in the community; it's really about breaking down the silos and working more directly together,' said Tammy Wentzell, city director of Housing and Community Development, last year. 'A really big goal is to get to the point where we're decreasing duplication of services, that we're all supporting each other, that we're directing folks where they need to go to get the help they need,' said Sather-McNabb. Gilroy is meeting with other local food security agencies in Grande Prairie to gain a better understanding of what is being offered and streamline ways to collaborate. 'Collaboration takes time, building relationships takes time, and this is in no way should be considered a competition, or that we're a direct competitor of any other agency within the city, we're just here as an adjunct,' said Sather-McNabb. Recently, Helping Hands was able to donate extra produce it received to other food security organizations, as well as soup and frozen meals to Wapiti House and the Saint Lawrence Centre. Last year city council received multiple funding requests from different organizations for their food security programs, and found that collaboration between those organizations was lacking. The approach to food security in Grande Prairie was seen as reactive, relying on short-term relief and fragmented services. Last September, a meeting was held with local organizations which provide food to the public. The city recognized an urgent need for a dedicated and focused approach to addressing food security within the city. Helping Hands took on the challenge. Since then, Helping Hands has partnered with Food Banks Alberta, serving as a hub for Northwestern Alberta. The partnership has enabled the organization to distribute food to communities in the surrounding area on behalf of Food Banks Alberta. 'We get a lot of our dry goods and frozen goods from Food Banks Alberta, so that's been really great,' said Gilroy, noting it has also provided items in high demand such as baby formula, and has also provided a 45-foot freezer sea-can as well as a forklift and training. The partnership has also included information on how to scale the operation of the pantry so that it can help more people. Since May, nearly 16,000 kilograms of food have been delivered to Helping Hands. Food Banks Alberta also helps provide emergency relief to communities in the area. Helping Hands stores emergency items ready to be deployed, such as drinking water and care packages for evacuees. This is the first partnership by a city organization with Food Banks Alberta; the partnership may come with additional funding in the future. The partnership between Food Banks Alberta and Helping Hands will mean the organization will need to achieve the standards of excellence set by Food Banks Canada. 'Being a member of Food Banks Alberta automatically makes you a member of Food Banks Canada, so with that comes extra kinds of support,' said Sather-McNabb. The support from Food Banks Canada includes grants, which Helping Hands has already applied for and will continue to work on other applications as well. Helping Hands still needs food donations, monetary donations and volunteers. 'We really need volunteers; we need a robust, diverse group of folks, people with muscle that can help move things, people with trucks that can potentially deliver allotments to some of our other communities. 'A lot of the volunteers in the other communities don't have, maybe, the capacity to be picking up pallets of food, and we need volunteers for cleaning schedules, we need volunteers as we grow and as we potentially have more shopping days, we're just going to need more people,' said Sather-McNabb. She said that in the future, there will also be some fundraising endeavours. If interested in donating or volunteering, you can contact Helping Hands through their Facebook page at . 'The need is so great, and we can't, unfortunately, help everybody, but we try to help, or at least try to get people connected to somewhere else in the community, if we're not able to help them directly,' said Gilroy. Food insecurity affects about 19 per cent of Grande Prairie residents, according to the 2023 Food Access & Affordability Survey report, which was partially sponsored by the city. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Winnipeg Free Press
26-06-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Indigenous women celebrated at graduation gala
Victoria McIntosh clutches the graduation cap her daughter beaded for her, and the jacket she wore on the first day she attended residential school. The 66-year-old woman from Sagkeeng First Nation has just graduated from the University of Manitoba with a master's degree in education after starting university when she was 50. 'I want to say to all those survivors of the residential school, the ones that didn't make it, this is for you,' she told reporters. 'That first step is always going to be the hardest, and when you take that last step, you're going to be glad you took that first step.' MATTHEW FRANK / FREE PRESS Victoria McIntosh was one of more than 250 Indigenous women honoured by the Manitoba government Thursday during the first annual gala to celebrate graduates. McIntosh was one of more than 250 Indigenous women honoured by the Manitoba government Thursday during the first annual gala to celebrate graduates, held at a downtown hotel. The honourees included high school, college and university grads. The event was paid for by Onashowewin Inc., an Indigenous restorative justice non-profit. The cost of the event wasn't released. From her first day in a residential school, when she was four years old, McIntosh knew she wanted to be a teacher. She said she wants to use her experience to teach young people how to overcome obstacles and use their voices for change. McIntosh remembers a conversation with her mother in which she encouraged her to push through university. 'She said 'if you're going to do it, go all the way to the end of the journey,'' McIntosh said. McIntosh hopes to continue that journey by working on her PhD at the U of M. Bailee Hatch, 19, was honoured for graduating from St. John's High School in Winnipeg. She had a beaded graduation cap made by her aunt to match her green grad dress. While the actual graduation day didn't seem like a 'big deal,' she said she's happy to finish school despite having a learning disability. 'I'm glad I'm not the only Indigenous person graduating,' Hatch told reporters. She loved cooking Kraft Dinner and hot dogs as a child, which sparked her dream to become a chef. Hatch hopes to go to culinary school and eventually open a restaurant. Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the province wanted to honour Indigenous women who graduate because, when Indigenous women are mentioned, it's often about the harmful experiences they have endured. Their accomplishments are overlooked, she said. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. 'It shouldn't be lost on anybody that Manitoba is ground zero for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people,' Fontaine said. 'If you want to effect change in Indigenous women's lives and in our communities, you can't always just focus on this.' Fontaine said she expects the new graduates do transformative work in the community. 'Some of them are going to become entrepreneurs. Some of them are going to become involved in politics. You can only imagine the growth of that over the next five to 10 to 20 years,' she said. 'It's really important to celebrate Indigenous women whenever we have the opportunity.'
Buzz Feed
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
10 Extremely Canadian Habits That Confuse The Rest Of The World
Canadians are known for being polite, but our quirks go way beyond just saying sorry 500 times a day. From our deep love of bagged milk to our unshakable devotion to weather small talk, these are the habits that make us unmistakably Canadian—whether we realize it or not. 1. Holding the door open for an awkwardly long time BBC Brit / Via Canadians treat door etiquette like an Olympic sport. We will absolutely hold the door open for someone who's so far away they're basically a dot in the distance, forcing them into an awkward half-jog just to avoid the guilt of making us wait. 2. Treating Tim Hortons like a national landmark Tim Hortons / Via Tim Hortons is not just a coffee shop—it's part of our identity. Whether we're debating the best Timbits flavour (old-fashioned plain deserves more respect), making serious Roll Up the Rim strategies, or relying on a Double-Double to power us through winter, Tims is the unofficial fuel of Canada. 3. Apologizing when someone else bumps into us CTV Comedy Channel / Via It doesn't matter whose fault it is—our instinct is to apologize first and ask questions later. Did someone ram their shopping cart into you? Sorry! Did someone step on your foot? Oops, my bad! If 'sorry' had a loyalty program, Canadians would have lifetime memberships. 4. Complaining about winter, but also bragging about surviving it National Canadian Film Day / Via Every Canadian has a go-to winter horror story. We love to whine about the cold but will immediately one-up each other with, 'Oh, you think -20°C is bad? Try -40°C with wind chill!' Bonus points if you've ever said, 'Yeah, but at least it's a dry cold.' 5. Giving directions based on landmarks that no longer exist Brittlestar / Via 'Oh yeah, just turn left where the old Zellers used to be.' If you've ever navigated using stores that closed a decade ago or roads that technically don't exist anymore, congrats—you're peak Canadian. 6. Eating Kraft Dinner like it's a food group Kraft Mac & Cheese / Via We don't just eat Kraft Dinner—we worship it. Some of us drown it in ketchup, some add hot dogs, and the true foodies might even sprinkle in some actual cheese. But one thing's for sure: KD is elite. 7. Having a 'winter' car and a 'summer' car Nate Richardson / Via Many Canadians have an official winter beater that looks like it barely survived a demolition derby—because why let salt and snow destroy a nice car when you have an old rust bucket that just gets the job done? 8. Patio season is every season Viralhog / Via It doesn't matter if it's barely above freezing —if the sun is out, we're on a patio in a parka, sipping an ice-cold drink like we're vacationing in the Caribbean. Outdoor heaters? That's just a bonus. 9. Having an emotional attachment to toques Robert E Blackmon / Via A beanie? No, no. It's a toque, and it's more than just headwear—it's a winter survival tool. Most Canadians have at least five lying around in random places, and we never leave the house without one from November to March. 10. Never turning down a butter tart
