Andrew Miller is the director of media relations for Blunt magazine.
A group of young professionals have decided to do more than just write about the issues of the day. They’ve decided to put their words into action. Blunt Magazine has been the labour of love for more than three years for a group of friends who kept in contact long after attending their Scarborough high school.
“We were just a group of young adults who happened to be friends from high school (Albert Campbell High School) who kept in contact during our post secondary education,” says Andrew Miller, a contributor as well as the director of media relations for the magazine. “We all wanted to do something more than the norm. We all had ideas and wanted to work together. Imagine being in a business with friends and being able to make a difference to the world.”
They decided a magazine would be the best way to speak to their generation and with that, Blunt online magazine was born. In addition to the magazine, the staff of eight has been working with the Daily Bread Food Bank for the past three years to bring about change in their community.
“We wanted to do something to give back to our community,” says Miller. In 2004, they organized a food drive with the co-operation of their old high school to inspire young people to do something positive for the community and have kept a relationship going with the food bank ever since.
“It is always impressive to see young people getting involved in the community. These guys have been supporters of Daily Bread since their days at Albert Campbell High School. It”s great to see youth moved to action in school, and when they continue their commitment as adults it’s amazing,” says Gail Nyberg, executive director at the Daily Bread Food Bank. “So often, youth are told to look to adults as role models when more often adults can learn a lot from the initiative that young people take.”
This year Blunt held a holiday event and donated the profits they raised through their silent auction to the food bank.
“Other communities look at Scarborough as a hot bed for crime,” says Miller. “All of us at Blunt magazine either live in Scarborough or have a strong connection with the community. I am proud to be a positive representative of my city.”
This arts and culture online magazine will be releasing their inaugural print publication in 2007.
“Toronto has such a diverse environment, we felt it would be good to put out a magazine based on opinions from people across the globe, talking about daily life events,” says Miller.
The print magazine will be free of charge. For more information visit www.bluntmagazine.ca.
