Boyle Street Community Services launches #ThatsBS campaign to draw attention to poverty in Edmonton

It’s a play on words that an anti-poverty group in Alberta’s capital hopes will play out by raising awareness about the challenges facing impoverished and homeless Edmontonians.

Boyle Street Community Services is using its acronym, “BS,” in a clever social media push to raise money for its organization’s efforts, as well as to spark conversation via its #ThatsBS campaign.

“We are Boyle Street and ‘that’s BS’ can also have a negative connotation as well,” the organization’s head of communications, Elliott Tanti, told Global News on Monday.

READ MORE: Unique partnership aims to fund much needed upgrades for Boyle Street Community Services

“What we’re trying to do is bridge those two things, so 1,900 plus people living on the streets that are homeless, that’s BS. Five-hundred people housed this year, that’s Boyle Street. Those are the sorts of statistics that we want to talk about.

“When we talk about ‘that’s BS’, it’s two Albertans are dying a day from accidental overdose, that’s BS. Four-thousand naloxone kits handed out by our organization, that’s Boyle Street.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "When we talk about 'that's BS', it's two Albertans are dying a day from accidental overdose, that's BS. Four-thousand naloxone kits handed out by our organization, that's Boyle Street."

Watch below: (From August, 2018)Boyle Street Community Services building is long overdue for a renovation 

2:04 Boyle Street Community Services forms partnership to fund upgrades

While the #ThatsBS campaign alludes to a curse word meaning nonsense, Tanti said he believes the daring use of the phrase is already reaping rewards for the organization and its goal.

“The social media interest has been quite high,” Tanti said. “I think people like that it’s a little edgy.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The social media interest has been quite high," Tanti said. "I think people like that it's a little edgy.

“By launching #ThatsBS, we’re talking about those systemic issues, those problems that our city continues to face, but we’re also providing Edmontonians with an opportunity to address the BS — that’s Boyle Street.”

Tanti said the timing of the campaign launch, at the beginning of the holiday season, is not accidental.

“This is the time of giving, and when people are thinking about others…that’s a big piece of this,” he said. “But it’s also the beginning of wintertime, the coldest time of the year, and in a city like Edmonton, a winter city, it provides a great opportunity to remind Edmontonians of the vast challenges that marginalized people living in poverty face at this time of year.”

For more information about Boyle Street Community Services and the #ThatsBS campaign, click here.