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Happy Anniversary to Our Partners at Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros!

Remise de chèque Bureau en Gros

 

This year, Breakfast Club of Canada and Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros are celebrating a very special anniversary: 15 years of working tirelessly and passionately for children.

 

On October 13, a cheque and some certificates of appreciation were offered at the Bureau en gros store in St-Bruno for the donation of the last Back To School campaign and to recognize the 15 years of partnership with the Club.

 

This support is absolutely essential, knowing that there are still hundreds of schools on BCC’s waiting list — a list that shows no signs of getting shorter any time soon.

 

During every back-to-school campaign, the associates at Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros have shown extraordinary motivation and determination to help raise funds for BCC. “At Staples, we believe that the back-to-school season should be a time of excitement and wonder. However, we know that this is not the case for all parents, teachers, and students as they struggle to provide children with the resources to help support a successful school year,” said Wanda Walkden, Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer, Staples Canada. “As Canada’s Back to School Destination, the School Supply Drive, which just wrapped up another successful fundraising campaign, allowed our stores to team up with charitable partners, like Breakfast Club of Canada, helping make a sizable, tangible impact in the Quebec and Atlantic Canada markets supporting communities where we live and work, empowering learning and growth for the year ahead.”

 

To shine the spotlight on this amazing spirit of commitment, we talked to Martin Dubeau, an associate and an enthusiastic supporter of the work BCC does.

 

Tell us a little more about yourself and your career path.

I’ve actually been working at Bureau en Gros for 23 years. I started out part-time when I was a student at Université de Montréal. I really liked the retail world, the people I was working with and the customers I was serving, so I decided to make this my career. I still enjoy everything about it, and I feel very lucky to work for such a wonderful organization.

 

Can you describe how you’ve contributed to this year’s back-to-school campaign?

In August, I reached out to the Frontalière running club and my fellow staff members, challenging them to walk or run in support of Breakfast Club of Canada. I myself pledged to go up and down Mount Pinacle 12 times in as many hours, and I invited other people to do the same, only at their own pace. It was all in the name of fun and charity!

 

Where did the idea come from? How did your co-workers react?

People like a challenge. The idea of walking or running to help Breakfast Club of Canada is a winning one right off the bat. I’m already an ultramarathoner, so I thought maybe getting other people to join me in my crazy antics would be a good way to drum up as much support as possible for a great cause. My team is truly amazing, and they jumped in with both feet. My son was even there for the entire event to greet participants.

 

What does this challenge mean to you on a personal level?

It was a great way for me to prepare for the UTMB 100 km mountain race, a unique trail-running event that goes through three countries (Italy, Switzerland and France). Incidentally, I ended up crossing the UTMB finish line in 26 hours and 4 minutes!

 

What does Breakfast Club of Canada’s mission mean to you?

It’s something I care a lot about for two reasons:

  1. It’s completely unfathomable to me that, in this day and age, there are still children who don’t have the basics — a wholesome breakfast — to start their morning. We’re always talking about investing in our future, for our children. So it’s an ABSOLUTE MUST they all have what it takes to get their day off on the right foot.
  2. As someone who runs ultramarathons, I know how important a nutritious breakfast is. I haven’t always been so disciplined, and I didn’t used to think breakfast was such a big deal. But I’ve had to make some choices for my health, and that’s when it really hit me how much of a difference a good breakfast can make and the impact it can have on your physical and mental well-being.

 

What other initiatives did your team get involved in during the Back-to-School campaign?

We had “bake sale Thursdays,” where someone would bring in a dessert and sell it to the other associates (like $2 for a homemade muffin). It was a delicious way to raise funds!

 

Our gratitude goes out to Martin Dubeau, Bureau en Gros/Staples Canada and all the participating associates for their hard work in support of Breakfast Club of Canada for the past 15 years.


Read more about our partners here!

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Swingin’ in the Rain: Teeing Off for a Good Cause

BCC and JLL representatives

 

Despite the grey sky and heavy rain, JLL Canada and its industry partners teed off for the 2nd annual JLL Golf Tournament on September 19, 2022, in support of Breakfast Club of Canada. Held outside of Calgary, Alberta, the event is just one of the ways the partnership provides resources and funds to help feed school kids across the country, one breakfast at a time.  

 

As JLL Canada’s national charity of choice, Breakfast Club of Canada received all the funds raised through the tournament. In addition to the contributions made as a result of the friendly rivalries on the links, a $10,000 donation to the Club was at stake. The skill-testing challenge for the 24 golfing pairs: get a hole-in-one at a location, supervised by Breakfast Club of Canada staff. Unfortunately, the $10,000 donation remained unclaimed with many of the shots landing far away from the green or even in the water, although a few did come close!  

 

Events such as these highlight how BCC’s corporate partners work together to create environments where all children have the nutrition they need to succeed. Funding for equipment and food is just one of the ways these tournaments help BCC programs. BCC is a proud partner of JLL Canada and its commitment to ensure that students can access a healthy breakfast at schools in Calgary and across Canada. Since 2015, JLL Canada has raised $554,000 for BCC. The long-standing partnership between BCC and JLL Canada was recently extended for another five years, which highlights the organizations’ continued collaboration. In a speech after the tournament, Ryan Haney, Executive Vice President of JLL Canada, emphasized how the event brings Calgary’s real estate community together around a worthy cause — feeding kids and nourishing their full potential. As inflation continues to take a bite out of many families’ and schools’ food budgets, strong partners like JLL Canada enable BCC to continue making quality school nutrition programs available across the country. 

 
For more stories about our partners, consult our Supporter section.

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Duke of Marlborough School Visit

Poster in school

On September 14, 2022, Duke of Marlborough School welcomed two Breakfast Club of Canada staff members and more than 20 other guests on a learning trip led by the Northern Manitoba Food, Culture, and Community Collaborative to get a better idea of how the school’s breakfast program works.  

 

Duke of Marlborough School is located in Churchill, Manitoba, a community of about 1,000 people. The school attempts to offset the food insecurity challenges that come with living in the North by providing breakfast to its students. A thank-you wall in the hallway has been created to thank all the funding partners that have provided support to the program. The students are currently working on making the wall even more visually appealing and adding 3D elements. 

 

Claire Gould, the site coordinator in charge of the breakfast program, spent the afternoon with the guests, enthusiastically explaining that breakfast is open to all students, every morning. She said she has been organizing breakfast at the school for many years, emphasis on “many.” In a community where access to healthy, affordable food is tough, the program has proved to be very beneficial to those who attend. The school also takes pride in building character and instilling virtues that are vital to forging strong relationships and promoting a safe school environment, as the posters below show.

poster in school

The school serves fruit (apples, pears or grapes, depending on availability), cereal, crackers and yogurt to students to enjoy in their classroom before the bell rings. Volunteer support in recent years has been overwhelming. After one local organization offered to cook a hot breakfast for the kids and was celebrated for it in the community, more and more offers rolled in from different groups and organizations who wanted to help. What an incredible culture of community and volunteer engagement has emerged to support these kids in the best of ways! 

 

Claire mentioned that their four dishwashers in the home ec room have transformed their breakfast system. Students are asked to do their part by placing their dirty dishes into the dishwashers after breakfast. A volunteer then checks to ensure they’re all loaded correctly. Once the dishes are clean, they are put away for use the following school day. As a result, everyone involved has a sense of responsibility and ownership. 

Poster in school

Claire still feels there’s so much more she could do. But considering all the difficulties the community faces in terms of food access, the fact that she’s getting a variety of delicious, nutritious foods into kids’ bellies every day is already more than enough! 

 

Thank you, Claire, and thank you to all the teachers and volunteers out there who do so much for these kids.


Read more stories about breakfast programs here.

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A Recipe that Gives the Chills!

Photo Credit: All the Nourishing Things

 

Did you know Halloween doesn’t necessarily means serving candies and treats? The proof is this frightening yet nutritious recipe, Boooonana Ghost Pops!   Easy to make, they will make children of your breakfast program shudder with joy! 

 

You will need: bananas, vanilla yogurt, raisins or chocolate chips, popsicle sticks. 

  1. Line a 9-inch baking pan with parchment or waxed paper. 
  2. Peel the bananas and cut them in half crosswise at a slight angle. Insert a popsicle stick into the cut end of each banana and push it about halfway up. 
  3. Put the yogurt into a small bowl. Hold onto the pops by the popsicle sticks and roll each banana in the yogurt to coat the exterior (tilting the bowl so the yogurt pools on the side makes this easier). Let excess yogurt drip back into the bowl (you can run your finger along the back of the bananas to remove the excess). Lay the pops in the baking pan.  
  4. Push 2 chocolate chips or 2 raisins into each banana to make the eyes of the ghosts. 
  5. Put into the freezer to firm up, at least 3 hours. Serve straight from the freezer. 


Visit our Recipes section for more delicious recipes!

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The Whole Truth About Fruits and Vegetables!

Fruits and Vegetables

 

Whole vegetables and fruits are an essential part of a healthy diet and offer many nutritional benefits over their liquid counterparts, which often contain added sugar and salt.

 

Here are a few more reasons you should serve them instead of juice for breakfast: 

  • They contain fibre: Fibre plays an important role in naturally controlling your appetite. Most of the fibre in a vegetable or fruit is found in its peel and pulp. When these are removed, as they are with juice, the benefits of the fibre are lost.  
  • They are chock-full of vitamins and minerals: Whole vegetables and fruits are complex foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals from root to stalk. By eating all the edible parts, you’ll be getting the most out of every nutrient.  
  • The sugar and salt they contain are naturally balanced: Think of the last time you squeezed an orange. How much juice did you get out of it? Barely enough to fill the bottom of a glass, right? So you can imagine how many it would take for a full serving! The result is very high in sugar (the same sugar content as a soft drink!) and does not make you feel full. What’s more, many commercial fruit juices contain added sugar, and many vegetable juices contain salt, which is a shame because vegetables and fruits in their natural state are already bursting with flavour.  

 

All in all, there really is no comparison between whole vegetables and fruits and juice, be it store-bought or freshly pressed. No matter how you serve whole vegetables and fruit — fresh, frozen, canned, stewed or blended — be sure to work as many of them as you can into your breakfast menu. They are as versatile as they are colourful, making the first meal of the day appealing to the eye as well as the taste buds. Use them to introduce your students to a world of flavours and textures.  


Visit our Recipes section for more tricks and information!

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Staples Canada steps up for children and raises $268,571 during Back-to-School campaign

Kids putting hands together on the table
Boucherville– October 14th, 2022

As the Back-to-School season is ending and students are back in the classroom, Staples Canada just finished its annual fundraiser. Thanks to the dedication of their associates and customers, Staples raised $268,571 to help maintain breakfast programs from coast to coast.  

 

“Thanks to partners like Staples/Bureau en Gros, Breakfast Club of Canada makes it possible for children to start their school day with an equal chance.” highlights Tommy Kulczyk President & CEO of Breakfast Club of Canada. “Education and health, especially for children, are core values for Staples/Bureau en Gros and this fundraising campaign is a strong asset in the Club’s mission to bring awareness about student nutrition, especially when we know that learning is easier on a full stomach ” 

 

With inflation currently at a multi-decade high, the cost of food, transportation and living are rising, and Breakfast Club of Canada will struggle to maintain its support to existing school nutrition programs this year.  

 

All managers and associates in the participating Staples Canada and Bureau en Gros stores across Quebec and the Atlantic provinces joined forces to contribute to the campaign. From August 7th to September 11th, they encouraged customers to donate by bringing awareness with one goal in mind: breakfast for every child, every day. 

 

“At Staples, we believe that the back-to-school season should be a time of excitement and wonder. However, we know that this is not the case for all parents, teachers, and students as they struggle to provide children with the resources to help support a successful school year,” said Wanda Walkden, Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer, Staples Canada. “As Canada’s Back to School Destination, the School Supply Drive, which just wrapped up another successful fundraising campaign, allowed our stores to team up with charitable partners, like Breakfast Clubs of Canada, helping make a sizable, tangible impact in the Quebec and Atlantic Canada markets supporting communities where we live and work, empowering learning and growth for the year ahead.” 

 

To find out more on how to donate to Breakfast Club of Canada’s back-to-school efforts, visit https://www.breakfastclubcanada.org/bts2022/ 

 

About Breakfast Club of Canada 

Since 1994, Breakfast Club of Canada has been working with partners from all sectors to help children access a nutritious breakfast and reach their full potential. Accredited by Imagine Canada for its effective governance and recognized by Aliments du Québec for its promotion of local food products, the Club helps reach more than 580 000 children in over 3,500 programs in academic and community settings across the country. The ultimate goal: breakfast for every child, every day.  To learn more, visit breakfastclubcanada.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.  

 

About Staples Canada 

Staples Canada is The Working and Learning Company. With a focus on community, inspiration and services, the privately-owned company is committed to being a dynamic, inspiring partner to customers who visit its over 300 locations and staples.ca. The company has two brands that support business customers, Staples Preferred for small businesses and Staples Professional for medium to large-sized enterprises, as well as five co-working facilities in Toronto, Kelowna, Oakville and Ottawa under the banner Staples Studio. Staples Canada is a proud partner of MAP through its Even the Odds campaign, which aims to tackle inequities in communities across Canada and helps make a future that’s fair for everyone. Visit staples.ca for more information or get social with @StaplesCanada on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

 

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Media Contact 

For more information and to schedule interviews with Breakfast Club of Canada spokespeople, please contact: 

Julie Hauville 
Media Relations, Breakfast Club of Canada 
julie.hauville@breakfastclubcanada.org 
 

Pamela Kennedy (She/Her) 
Manager, PR and Communications, Staples Canada
Phone: (905) 737-1147 ext. 578
Pamela.Kennedy@staples.ca