HEMP FOR THE HOMELESS (and The Ezra Burger!)
Poster by Lulu Soiferman
The Hemp for the Homeless team with freshly filled Hemp Help Kits at Denver Homeless Out Loud in 2019.
About Hemp for the Homeless and the two short films covering our adventure…
“Hemp is the world's most versatile plant and I’ve decided to use it for something a little unexpected: a ‘philhempthropic’ journey to get functional and nutritious hemp products into the hands of those who need them most.”
TO WATCH OUR 2021 SHORT FILM: CLICK HERE (3:47 mins.)
TO WATCH OUR 2019 SHORT FILM: CLICK HERE (7:00 mins.)
Read more about our films below.
Our Latest Hemp for the Homeless Outreach Drive…
Our January 2021 Hemp Help Kit. 150 of these kits went to the clients of Resilience Montreal.
Some of the many functional and nutritious hemp goods that came in for the latest outreach drive.
Some of the 150 Hemp Help Kits that went out to Resilience Montreal
Ezra Soiferman passing along a Hemp Help Kit to a client of Resilience Montreal. Photo by Ilana Block.
Resilience Montreal Co-Manager Nakuset and Hemp for the Homeless Founder Ezra Soiferman hold Hemp Help Kits in front of Resilience Montreal - Photo by Ilana Block.
Rustique x Hemp for the Homeless Oatmeal hemp cookies that were included in each Hemp Help Kit given to clients at Resilience Montreal. Available as a Buy-One-Give-One promo at Rustique until the end of February, 2021. For every cookie purchased, one will be donated to Resilience Montreal! Purchase your cookies here. “These cookies are hempin’ incredible.'“ - Ez
Ezra and Rustique Pie Shop’s head baker Mégane Bouchet-Lanat and some of the nearly 200 additional oatmeal hemp cookies donated to Resilience Montreal in April 2021.
Margo and Saali of Resilience Montreal with some of the nearly 200 oatmeal-hemp cookies Rustique donated to Resilience in April 2021.
The Resilience Raphaël André memorial warming tent in downtown Montreal’s Cabot Square that Hemp for the Homeless helped fund.
LATEST UPDATE:
In January 2021, filmmaker/photographer Ezra Soiferman and the Hemp for the Homeless team distributed 150 ‘Hemp Help Kits’ to downtown Montreal homeless shelter Resilience Montreal.
As part of the effort, we received donations from Dr. Bronner’s Soaps (soap, hand sanitizer) and several other hemp companies (hemp hearts, oatmeal-hemp cookies by Rustique Pie Kitchen - see photos above, hemp energy bars, etc.), and we received generous donations of close to $3500 from private donors and restaurant Hello 123 (from sales of The Ezra Burger at their Monkland location - see below). These funds went towards hemp items we purchased around the world to fill the kits (hemp masks, socks, tote bags, etc.).
Our project also donated an additional $1000 used to help fund the Raphaël André memorial warming tent for Resilience clients to use in downtown Montreal’s Cabot Square.
We are planning upcoming Hemp Help Kit bag-drops. Please contribute to Hemp for the Homeless if you like what you see in our films below and are able to pitch in!
TO DONATE VIA PayPal, CLICK HERE and make payment to ezrasoif@gmail.com (Note: PayPal account required)
E-TRANSFER DONATIONS: If you have a Canadian online banking app, you can donate by E-Transfer to ezrasoif@gmail.com
TO DONATE VIA CASH OR CHEQUE in person (in Montreal), please email Ezra at: ezrasoif@gmail.com to arrange.
Thank you for helping and for hemping!
WATCH THE HEMP FOR THE HOMELESS SHORT FILMS…
CLICK IMAGE TO WATCH OUR LATEST FILM “Hemp for the Homeless - Montreal 2021”, a short film by Ez (4 mins., 2021)
ABOUT OUR LATEST SHORT FILM: Join Ez, his daughter Lulu and the Hemp for the Homeless team in the 4-minute short film (watch here) chronicling the January 2021 Hemp Help Kit giveaway in downtown Montreal at the Resilience Montreal homeless shelter during the COVID pandemic.
To donate to Hemp for the Homeless, see the Donations section above. To donate to Resilience Montreal which supports the Native and broader homeless community around Cabot Square, please visit their current funding drive here.
CLICK IMAGE TO WATCH OUR FIRST FILM “Hemp for the Homeless”, a short film by Ez (7 mins., 2019)
ABOUT OUR FIRST FILM IN 2019: Join me (Ez) and the Hemp for the Homeless team in this out-of-left-field short documentary from 2019 about our creation of hemp tote bags filled with planet-friendly hemp goods.
In the film, we visit NoCo, North America’s largest hemp expo, where we collect all manner of hempiness to fit our mission. We zip off to Denver Homeless Out Loud, a group advocating tirelessly for folks experiencing homelessness in the heart of Colorado’s homeless crisis. We work with them and hemp industry volunteers to assemble Hemp Help Kits. These beauties contain hemp socks, hemp shirts, hemp soap, hemp seeds and other very useful, very hempy items.
A younger Ez, dressed from ‘hemp-to-toe’ in hemp and holding the first Hemp Help Kit in 2007
As a Montreal-based filmmaker, photographer and all-out hemp-lover for the last 30 years, I can often be found sprinkling hulled Canadian hemp seeds on top of nearly everything I eat. I also wear only hemp clothes, shoes and bags each day. You can say I’m dressed from ‘hemp-to-toe' in the stuff.
I created the Hemp for the Homeless project in 2007 to show that more than just being a superfood and an infinitely versatile plant, hemp can also bring hope. As you’ll see in the film, that’s what our Hemp Help Kits have been striving for and, we like to think, achieving.
So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get inspired and let’s get hempified. Join me and my friends in our 2019 short film made with love in Montreal and Colorado and then check out our 2nd short film from 2021, here.
Meet The Ezra Burger…
The Ezra Burger at Hello 123 (Monkland)
“It is to die for, save that it won’t kill you.”
-Bill Brownstein, Montreal Gazette (view article)
(NOTE: The Ezra Burger is currently on hiatus from the Hello 123 Monkland menu due to menu changes during the pandemic. We’ll update you here once it returns. Until then, you can read all about it below and try other delicious items on their menu.)
The Ezra Burger at Hello 123 Monkland supports a hempin’ good cause
Vegan comfort food restaurant Hello 123 (Montreal Monkland location only) has partnered with Hemp for the Homeless by introducing The Ezra Burger!
I was their very first customer in June 2019 and after eating there dozens of times throughout their first six months - with countless friends, family and colleagues - they offered to name a new vegan burger after me. But not just any burger! A hemp burger with a new patty based on the famous Hello 123 hemp/sunflower balls often served as a protein atop their gorgeous salads and beautiful bowls.
(Fun, or what?: Thanks to state-of-the-art digital technology, you can now listen to a recording of the moment Hello 123 Monkland co-owner Eric Blake promised to name a burger for me! — Click for 1 min. audio clip)
Ezra Soiferman, Photo by Talula Soiferman
I’m thrilled to say co-owner Eric Blake, chef David and the whole team there have made it a succulent reality. The thing looks like a party and tastes like a classic.
And get this, Hello 123 Monkland is donating $1 from the sale of every one of these meatless masterpieces directly to Hemp for the Homeless so that the team and I can help get more Hemp Help Kits out into the world at a time like this. I am beyond grateful.
What’s in an Ezra Burger?
The Ezra Burger features a juicy, unforgettable homemade hemp and sunflower seed veggie patty, a toasted, organic, gluten-free bun, pickle rounds, sweet marinated onions, Boston lettuce, tomato, toasted hemp hearts and perhaps my favourite ingredient of all: the Ez Sez Secret Sauce!
”The Ezra Burger is vegan comfort food for those who crave a soulful mouthful. It’s half hemp burger, half work of art, half crazy... and 150% totally vegan delicious!” -Ez
Ezra wearing hemp glasses and holding an Ezra Burger!
Check this out…
Meat-free!
Gluten-free!
Great protein & fibre!
Rich with omegas & aminos!
Loaded with vitamins & minerals!
Yummy and hempified!
NOTE: The Ezra Burger is not currently available at Hello 123 Monkland (5700 Monkland, corner Harvard, in Montreal’s NDG neighbourhood).; Map) due to a more limited menu during the pandemic. We’ll alert you here once it returns!
A pic of The Ezra Burger was featured on the front page of the Montreal Gazette. Read the article here.
Ezra in front of Hello 123 on Monkland Ave. in Montreal
A sampling of functional and nutritious goods from our 2019 Hemp Help Kits
Support the Hemp for the Homeless effort
If you, your family or company would like to sponsor or partner with Hemp for the Homeless by donating funds or hemp products to be used for upcoming Hemp Help Kit giveaways, please reach out to us and let’s talk. We’d love for you to join our lead sponsors Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Hello 123 Monkland and Rustique Pie Kitchen and our 35+ other amazing sponsors and partners listed below. If you have anything else to offer the project, we’d love to hear from you. The stakes are high for people on the street and they need our help urgently.
Thank you, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps!
Thank you, Friends of Hemp!
Thank you, Hello 123 Monkland!
Thank you, Rustique Pie Kitchen!
Our Sponsors and Partners over the years have included some incredibly generous companies and organizations. We thank them for their participation and encouragement. Get to know them and their hemp products, lifestyles and visions:
Bernard le boulanger
Canopy Growth — 2017-2019 Lead Sponsor
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps — Ongoing Lead Sponsor
Denver Homeless Out Loud - Homeless organization
Doxmix
Friends of Hemp - 2021 Lead Sponsor
Hello 123 (Monkland location) - Ongoing Lead Sponsor
Hemp the Earth
Hemptown
Mark Zekulin
The Old Brewery Mission - Homeless Shelter
Penny Idol
Resilience Montreal homeless shelter
Rustique Pie Kitchen - 2021 Lead Sponsor
Silver Unlimited Productions
Wumaniti Earth Native Sanctuary
Thank you to all our Sponsors, Partners and Individual Donors!
Ezra Soiferman and several Hemp Help Kit recipients in 2019
2021 Short Film Credits
Directed by Ezra Soiferman
Filmed, photographed and edited by Ezra Soiferman
Additional filming and photos by Gregg Silver, Lulu Soiferman and Ilana Block
Original music by Ezra Soiferman
Special thanks to the Hemp for the Homeless Volunteer Team: Gregg Silver, Lulu Soiferman and Ilana Block
Support Resilience Montreal here.
2019 Short Film Credits
Directed by Ezra Soiferman
Filmed and edited by Gregg Silver
Additional filming by Marc Ostrick & Ezra Soiferman
Still photographs by Ez
Original music by:
Gregg Silver
Dylan Silverstein
Special thanks to the Hemp for the Homeless Road Team: Ez, Gregg Silver, Marc Ostrick, Mario Hamelin
Big thanks to our devoted volunteers: Ilana Block, Dawn Bower, Lauren Brown, Ben Droz, Adam/Cici & Nyc Dunn, Terese Howard, Amanda Lyall, Savvy Rose, Michael Sheinberg, Talula Soiferman, Collin Voeller
Support Denver Homeless Out Loud here.
Learn more about Hemp:
If you're curious about the superfood qualities of hemp, please read this article.
To learn more about the many uses of hemp and its benefits, click here.
To read about ‘5 ways hemp can save the planet’, click here.
Contact Hemp for the Homeless here. We’d love to hear from you.
Ezra’s old smart, loaded up with Hemp Help Kits to be distributed to homeless organizations around Montreal in 2007