The number of kids arriving to school hungry in Ottawa each day has risen by nearly 30 percent, the president and CEO of Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE) told some 250 attendees of the Spark Soirée held at Infinity Convention Centre on Friday.
“For many, many years we served 13,500 meals every school day. We’re now serving over 17,000 meals,” said Heather Norris of what she described as “unprecedented times” for families facing food insecurity. “The status quo is no longer an option.”
The evening saw folks from the business community come together with leaders in education to raise funds for ONFE, a non-profit organization that works with Ottawa’s four public school boards to run a variety of programs. Its largest is the School Breakfast Program, which has seen a surge in demand since the pandemic. “Our goal is that no child in Ottawa start the day hungry,” said Norris of a program that’s been running for more than 30 years and currently exists in 200 schools across the city.
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Norris touched on the “historic and monumental” announcement by the federal government on April 1 to invest $1 billion over five years to establish a national school breakfast program. ONFE has been working in partnership with the Coalition for Healthy School Food to advocate for this measure, said Norris, while noting Canada is the only G7 country without a national school breakfast program.
ONFE’s signature gala raised $65,000, with more donations expected. An anonymous donor had offered to match up to $10,000 in donations.
The gala, emceed by the Ottawa Senators’ in-game host, Lauren Fine, celebrated the resilience and potential of youth, some of whom were in the lobby earlier as part of ONFE’s Junior Achievement program. It’s a youth entrepreneurship program that helps high school students get their first look into the world of starting their own business.
Back for its second year was presenting sponsor TAAG, represented by CEO and founder Andrew Abraham. TAAG is a professional services firm that works with small- and medium-sized business in such areas as accounting, wealth management, legal services, and marketing and design.
Clearly an Ottawa Senators fan, Abraham began his remarks by expressing hope for a better season ahead for our city’s NHL team so “we don’t have to watch the other team from Ontario,” he joked. Actually, we don’t have to; the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs the next day.
Abraham talked about the importance of extending a helping hand to those who have less, a lesson he was taught at a young age by his restaurateur father, who’d offer meals to those in need.
It was TAAG’s director of business development, Rania Odeh, who introduced ONFE to her born-and-raised CEO. She previously worked as a sales manager at Infinity Convention Centre. She came to learn about the non-profit when it began holding its Spark Soirée at the special event venue, which customizes a breakfast-inspired three-course gourmet meal for the gala.
TAAG signed on as top sponsor following a meeting with Norris and ONFE’s director of advancement, Mitch Miller. Said Abraham: “There was an immediate synergy when we got together with Heather and Mitch, and got to know some of the work they’re doing.”
Other business leaders in attendance included Paramount Properties principal Stuart Ages and Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) LLP regional managing partner Larry Elliot. Algonquin College president Claude Brulé was seen with the chair of his board of governors, James McCracken. As well, ONFE board chair Margo Crawford, founder and chair of Business Sherpa Group, attended.
Also seen were Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches, Kanata North Councillor Cathy Curry and former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson.
From the Capital Prosperity Foundation, created to help children within the community, were president Dan Fried and chair Kevin Darling.
The room heard from Sylvie Bouchard, principal of the French Catholic elementary school St-Anne in the heart of Ottawa’s Lowertown. She painted a picture through statistics of the challenges faced by her students. Many of their families live below the poverty line, are crammed into emergency housing and are being raised by a single parent, typically the mother.
Bouchard spoke about how important the program is to St-Anne in providing a sense of community to the students and in keeping their bellies full so that they can concentrate on learning. “I’m a teacher at heart, so I’m going to throw in some science,” added Bouchard as she spoke about how a healthy body helps to maintain a healthy mind by providing essential micronutrients.
“Some studies have found links between consuming certain nutrients and improving cognitive function. For example, iron and magnesium play a role in learning and memory while Omega 3 can help with attention span.”
Vitamin deficiencies can impact a child’s behaviour and brain function, said Bouchard. “Some schools with breakfast or snack programs have seen an overall increase in academic performance, and it makes sense; skipping breakfast would leave most people spending the morning thinking about what they might be having for lunch instead of focusing on the task at hand, especially if the task is math.”
It was the second night in a row prominent Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon was leading a charity auction. It seems turning 70 the weekend before hasn’t slowed him down much.
He got all the Swifties excited as he sold off two tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert in Toronto. Greenspon also donned a red scarf as a tribute to her song by the same name.
The tickets sold for $5,000 to Jack Larabie of Jack Larabie Distribution. He plans to gift the tickets to his 15-year-old granddaughter.
Larabie’s company has been doing the food deliveries for the School Breakfast Program for years. “I know what it’s like to not have any food,” he said. While sharing with OBJ.social the hardships of his upbringing, his wife Sheila took advantage of his distracted state and was top bidder on the next live auction item, a weekend getaway package to Kingston at The Smith Hotel for $1,300.
The final item was a trip to the Grand Isle Resort & Residences in Exuma, The Bahamas, nabbed for $8,500 by Abraham. It was donated by Peter Nicholson, founder and president of The Foundation WCPD, to the charity live auction — just as he’d done for the Martini Madness fundraiser the night before, and Evening in the Maritimes the night before that.
caroline@obj.ca
