Another great breakfast for a great cause! This time with a little carrot appeal. Together, we exceeded our goal by raising over $14,000.00 to support student nutrition programs in Brantford and Brant!
With close to 200 guests in attendance, the foyer was abuzz with conversation and comraderie over coffee, silent auctions items and, new this year, a fun photo booth provided by Edge Imaging. Young event attendees, Niamh McCusker-Korczak and her friend Kainaat Safdar, donned on their carrot and apple mascot costumes respectively, and added a youthful dimension to the photo booth.
Mr. Tom Mercante (far R), Culinary Arts teacher at St. John’s College and his students; photo courtesy of Edge Imaging
Guests enjoyed a fabulous market-style breakfast buffet, all sponsored by select food suppliers. Tom Mercante, Red Seal Chef and Culiary Arts teacher at St. John’s College, was on hand for the morning with his students who helped serve the hot and cold buffet, along with prepare delicious yogurt and berry parfaits and tantalizing fresh fruit trays. “Good food and good company”, tweeted Carol Ann Sloat, trustee with the Grand Erie District School Board. A big Thank You to all our generous food sponsors: Burnbrae Farms, Dave’s No Frills, Strodes, Tree House Private Brands (Western Waffles), Zehrs Fairview Drive, Lococo’s, Birley’s Coffee Service and Water Depot.
Pictured above (L to R): Art Champagne, highest bidder and winner of the VIA Rail Canada package; Gisèle Budgell, Program Director, Brant Food For Thought; photo courtesy of Edge Imaging
The Live Auction provided a fast-paced addition to the morning with auctioneers Terry Fowler of Adesa Kitchener and Darryl Maidment of Adesa Brampton. Feature item was a VIA Rail Canada Economy Trip for 4 to Québec City, along with $250 worth of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts gift cards and a travel cooler bag with snacks, total value of $2,700. Other live auction items included a Flourish FS 1 Liv bicycle, sponsored by The Bicycle Shop in Brantford, Dinner & Theatre package in Cambridge, sponsored by Elixir Bistro and Drayton Entertainment, Club Level Hamilton Tiger Cats tickets courtesy of Forte Produce, two Paris Grand Golf for 4 with cart courtesy of the Dwayne D. Budgell Funeral Home Limited and Andy Lair of Remax, Niagara Helicopters experience with Dining at Lake House Restaurant, Fine Dining at Juniper Dining Co in Paris, co-sponsored by Cowan Insurance Group of Paris.
This year’s Volunteer Spotlight featured 9 year old Owen Doucette, student at St. Peter School in Brantford, who
Pictured above (behind L to R): Owen Doucette, Christina Doucette, Gisèle Budgell; (front) Jesse Doucette; photo courtesy of Edge Imaging.
shared his experience of volunteering at the school nutrition program. Owen, along with his younger brother Jesse, help out their mom Christina every morning in the 5-day a week breakfast program. Brant Food For Thought is very proud of their student volunteers and their contributions to the success of student nutrition.
Pictured above (L to R): Rebecca Sherbino, Kainaat Safdar, Niamh McCusker-Korczak and Colleen Graham; photo courtesy of Edge Imaging
Pictured L to R: Colleen Graham, Rebecca Sherbino and Niahm McCusker-Korczak; photo courtesy of Edge Imaging
Keynote speakers, Rebecca Sherbino and Colleen Graham, co-founders of The Raw Carrot Soup Entreprise, genuinely inspired the audience with their social enterprise journey of providing meaningful employment opportunities for people living on social assistance in the community of Paris, Ontario. The Raw Carrot hires people with functional or developmental limitations and helps them cross those barriers to traditional employment. The employees cook up healthy, homestyle, gourmet soups and breadsticks that are sold throughout the surrounding communities. Their employees all have something in common: the desire to live a purposeful life. As a token of appreciation, Sherbino and Graham were presented with a 25 lb bag of Foodland Ontario heirloom carrots, much to their delight. Visit their website at www.therawcarrot.com and find out where you can pick up their delicious soups.
It takes many hands and hearts to put together a gala of this magnitude and Brant Food For Thought would like to acknowledge the many corporations, businesses and individuals who made this event possible.
A big thank you to…
Platinum Title Sponsor
glenn.gaudet@investorsgroup.com kevin.reid@investorsgroup.com
Gold Sponsors
Table Sponsors
Food Sponsors
Event & Major Auction Sponsors
A special thank you also goes to all the schools and organizations who participated in the Silent Auction Basket Contest to support the breakfast gala: Agnes G. Hodge Public School, Bellview Public School, Brantford Parks and Recreation, Boys & Girls Club of Brantford, Cedarland Public School, Centennial Grand-Woodlands, Grand Erie Learning Alternatives, Graham Bell-Victoria School, Grandview Public School, Holy Cross School, Jean Vanier Catholic Elementary, King George School, Lansdowne-Costain School, Major Ballachey Public School, North Park Collegiate V.I., Notre Dame School, Oakland-Scotland Public School, Paris Central School, Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary, St. Patrick School, St. Pius X School, St. Theresa School, and Ecole Ste. Marguerite-Bourgeoys.
Thank you also to the businesses and individuals who sponsored an item for the Live Auction: Burnbrae Farms, Cowan Insurance Group Paris, Dave Levac, MPP, Brant, Drayton Entertainment, Dwayne D. Budgell Funeral Home, Edge Imaging, Elixir Bistro, Forte Produce, Grand Experiences, Grand River Cruises, Lake House Restaurant, McMillan Insurance, Niagara Helicopters, Remax – Andy Lair, The Bicycle Shop, and VIA Rail Canada.
Thank you to all our guests in attendance for making this year’s Breakfast For Champions a successful event. This tweet by a guest sums up our purpose in Brantford and Brant: “Thank you Brant Food For Thought for supporting student nutrition in our community. Healthy bodies = healthy minds!”