Hilary Duff's Answer to the question about Mike Comrie and about Hope Mission

edmontonjournal.com
Elizabeth Withey
Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Hilary Duff helps serve lunch at the Hope Mission at the Herb Jamieson Centre.
CREDIT: Bruce Edwards/Edmonton Journal
Hilary Duff helps serve lunch at the Hope Mission at the Herb Jamieson Centre.

EDMONTON -Pop singer Hilary Duff dished up chicken stew for hundreds of homeless men at the Herb Jamieson Centre today as part of her personal campaign to raise awareness about poverty and hunger.

The teen celebrity served the hot lunch and dessert for an hour at the downtown emergency shelter, and also visited Hope Mission's nearby headquarters.

"The Hope Mission was a priority and we wanted to lend a hand," she said after completing her kitchen shift. "It's so rewarding for me. I love to get down and dirty and help out."

Duff, who performs at Rexall Place tonight, kicked off the Canadian leg of her North American Dignity tour in Winnipeg Saturday.

She is soliciting non-perishable food donations from Edmonton concert-goers, which will be distributed in the city through food-raising charity Alberta Harvest.

The singer often collaborates with lead organization Canadian Harvest, and has raised more than 125,000 pounds of food on her past two Canadian tours. Founder Stan Curtis said each concert can bring in as many as 3,000 cans of food, enough for 6,000 meals.

Hope Mission spokeswoman Janelle Aker said Duff's efforts will help raise awareness with a younger demographic that might not be aware of the emergency shelter. Many of Duff's fans are children.

"She stayed for the whole lunch," Aker said. "Until the last man received his food."

Duff's appearance also brought smiles to the faces of men who live on the streets of Edmonton, Aker said. Many were surprised to see Duff handing them their meal.

"It's nice when someone who makes a lot of money will look you in the eye and treat you like a real person," Aker said.

Hunger and homelessness are intertwined and deceptively simple problems to solve, Duff said, and compassion is key.

"A big misconception of charity work and celebrities is that it takes a lot of money," she said. "It doesn't take a lot of money. Your time is the best thing you can give."

At the mention of star chatter that Duff is dating former Oiler Mike Comrie, the 19-year-old singer's face brightened with a girlish grin, calling it a funny coincidence to be performing in Comrie's hometown.

"I'm in Edmonton, he's from Edmonton," she said, squirming in her chair. "Some of the guys (at the shelter) asked me about him, about hockey."

ewithey@thejournal.canwest.com

See the pictures of the tour here
See the pictures during the Serving for Hope mission here...

Courtesy: Canada.com