Special event paves way for new food hub serving 19 local schools
Boucherville, Quebec, July 12, 2019: Calgarians ‘flipped out’ at the Macleod Trail Co-Op Stampede Breakfast on Friday, July 12, when Hockey Wives star Kodette LaBarbera and retired Calgary Flames defenceman Mike Commodore took to the pancake grill at the Danone Canada Celebrity Pancake Challenge, in support of Breakfast Club of Canada.
Kodette and Mike faced off using nutritious products from Danone’s leading dairy- and plant-based product lines, each creating an original pancake recipe under the guidance of Dave Bohati, Executive Chef at local hotspot Murrieta’s Bar and Grill. Their creative masterpieces included surprise ingredients, including grilled avocado and watermelon, and Kodette’s creation won over the judges by a landslide.
However, the ultimate winner of the challenge was the Breakfast Club of Canada, a national charity that serves over 1.3 million school breakfasts to children in need across Alberta every year. In honour of the event, Danone Canada made a special donation contributing to a new food hub that will help the Club support 19 schools in Calgary. The food hub will also represent a new model for the Club to manage how it provides breakfasts to schools across the city, while allowing for a wider variety of nutritious food, like yogurt, in its meals. The Co-op Community Foundation and members of the public who attended the July 12 event also generously contributed to the project.
“Pancake Breakfasts spotlight the pleasure of a hearty morning meal enjoyed with family and friends, but for too many children, this ritual is not an everyday reality. As a founding partner of the Breakfast Club of Canada, we saw an important opportunity to raise both funds and awareness for this important cause, and are grateful to Kodette, Mike, and our partners at Calgary Co-Op for making this Celebrity Pancake Challenge such a tremendous success,” said Natacha Gouveia, Director of Communications, Danone Canada.
“The Breakfast Club of Canada responds to a tremendous demand for its services across Alberta, but over 118 schools in the province remain on our waiting list. Once it’s launched, our new food hub will set us up to better tackle this challenge over the longer term, marking a new chapter for the Breakfast Club of Canada in Calgary,” said Lisa Clowery, Foundations and Corporate Relations, Breakfast Club of Canada.
About Danone Canada
Danone Canada is a business unit of Danone and operates from headquarter offices in Boucherville, Quebec, and Mississauga, Ontario. Danone Canada is the country’s largest consumer-facing Certified B Corporation®, demonstrating that the company meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Danone Canada’s ambition is to produce healthful dairy, plant-based products and coffee creamers and beverages; create economic and social value; and nurture natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture. Its portfolio of brands includes Activia®, Oikos®, DanActive®, Danone®, Silk® plant-based foods and beverages, So Delicious® Dairy Free, Stok and more.
For more information about the company, please visit danone.ca; facebook.com/danonecanada; Twitter (@DanoneCanada) or LinkedIn (Danone Canada).
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For more information:
Natacha Gouveia
Danone Canada
450-655-7331, ext. 7487