REGINA - Regina artist Joshua Goff is currently doing a fundraiser called Tattoos for Hunger, where people interested in his service can get a discount if they bring in food that then gets donated to the Regina Food Bank.
Goff has been doing this for a few years now and got the idea from the place he used to work.
"When I was working at another shop called Midnight Oil [Tattoo] about six years ago now. They had done something similar there. When I moved out of that shop and opened up my own space, I decided to continue that. And then I've done it every year since [except when I] skipped [out] last year, though. But this year, I've gone forward again with it," said Goff.
Goff understands people are in need based on his life experiences. Goff grew up in Regina, where he saw people not as fortunate. Goff talked about hanging out in the Cathedral neighbourhood, which borders North Central.
He recalled times when he would go into others' houses and see they didn’t have a lot in the fridge or their living spaces weren’t the best.
Goff felt fortunate to be raised by grandparents who ensured he was fed, calling it "their love language." He feels the kindness and compassion he was shown makes him want to help others.
Often, Goff feels when people hear another individual is struggling, they see them as "another face in the crowd."
He mentioned how certain individuals don’t get the same opportunities as others to create a successful life for themselves. "They [certain people] didn't have enough of an education to get a good job that could support their family, and then all of a sudden now they're relying on all of these different programs and everything like that."
While Goff had the support of others and wanted to aid people, he also went through rough times. When he was older, Goff ended up in group homes, where he felt his problems weren’t being addressed.
As a teenager, Goff struggled with his mental health, feeling it was him against everybody else.
After ending up in group homes, he remembered "meeting other boys, young boys that were, you know, in trauma and in crisis and things like that, you know, not that my problems became smaller. It's just that, you know, I knew that there were other people out there that were experiencing these things."
Even though group homes were supportive, Goff felt it was "toxic" seeing people still facing hardships.
Goff highlighted that people face challenges like "economics, trauma, all those, all those aspects that kind of put people in crisis. And to get out of it is extremely difficult." He added, "It's a slippery slope [being in group homes]. And, you know, some of those guys now were either dead or in jail."
He also noted that "people really want to have this like attitude of you can do it by yourself, you can do everything [by yourself]."
What got Goff to turn his life around was realizing he needed to "take more onus in [the] choices that he made [that got him into this situation and that will] get him out of that." What made him realize that fact was his friend group and family.
Another reason Goff got out of his situation was thanks to art, which helped him find "something to be [in life.]"
For those facing similar challenges, Goff said, "you're gonna hear from a lot of people that they understand what you're feeling and know what you're going through. And I think a lot of us that have struggled will say something like that, but your struggle is unique. And like it's difficult, but like think about all the times that you've struggled before and how you've gotten through it, and how, you know, in time, it makes you wiser. And it gives you more of an experience to become more empathetic and to do something."
Since Goff left the group homes and started getting into art, he has used his work to get people to donate food supplies.
Goff runs his fundraiser through the holiday season until January. The way it works is Goff will charge $50 less than his normal hourly rate for a tattoo if a person brings in a bag of goods that can be donated to a food bank.
The discount doesn't have a limit on the amount of food brought in and the size of the tattoo doesn't affect the discount.
In past years, Goff would get 30 to 35 bags of food that would then be donated to the food bank, but he mentioned this year has been slower, as he’s received around 15 so far.
However, he understands during Christmas, families are in a pinch for money and can’t give away food to others.
The largest donation he’s ever received from a customer was from a lady who wanted "a bigger tattoo on her and, you know, it took like three sessions [to finish the tattoo], and she brought a lot [of food in a bag] each time. I was super grateful for that, but she just said like, this is just stuff that was lying around my house."
Not only has Goff donated items to the food bank, but he’s also helped those closest to him. A family friend was going through a tough time once, and Goff had bags of food from donations. So, Goff and his grandpa came down and dropped the items down to their spaces.
It may seem like a big deal to some, but Goff feels it’s human decency. In terms of trying new ideas for future fundraisers, Goff is "always happy to kind of discuss with people and open to ideas and things like that."
For more information about the fundraiser, you can contact
