A colourful CrossIron Mills initiative has resulted in a $10,000 donation to the Breakfast Club of Canada (BCOC), with mall representatives presenting the non-profit organization with a cheque on Sept. 1 at the bustling shopping centre in Balzac.
The mall hosted a ‘doodle classroom’ from Aug. 15 to Sept. 5, where shoppers were able to boost excitement about going back to school by colouring their stresses away. Located near the food hall, the blank-slate classroom allowed visitors to colour the walls, desks, and lockers to their heart's content.
On Sept. 1, Joel Tatlow, the marketing manager for CrossIron Mills, presented Amanda Boadi, a program advisor for BCOC, with a $10,000 cheque in front of the brightly coloured classroom.
As part of the initiative, CrossIron Mills donated $5 for every person that entered the classroom, up to a maximum of 2,000 people, to the Breakfast Club of Canada.
“To date, we’ve seen about 3,900 people stop by the experience and add some colour to our installation,” Tatlow said. “It’s been really, really amazing and I’m proud to say that we’ll be making a full $10,000 donation to the Breakfast Club of Canada.”
The BCOC is a non-profit organization that supplies breakfast to school-aged children. The club's mission is to ensure every child has access to a healthy and filling meal, regardless of socio-economic status.
The donation will be used by BCOC to continue supporting current programs that supply breakfast to over 150 schools across Alberta, according to Boadi.
It’s a donation that is particularly helpful at the moment, given the rising prices of groceries. Currently, the organization has had to implement a freeze on onboarding new schools that are wanting to utilize the Breakfast Club program due to these rising prices.
“We’ve seen in the last year prices have been going up, especially with food costs,” Boadi said. “This is going to help us maintain our current programs and hopefully to grow a little bit more of the current focus in Alberta.”
The breakfast club has 280 programs across the province, helping provide over 20,000 students with a meal every day, Boadi said.
“We work directly with Rocky View School division and in that partnership we’re supporting over 1,800 students across about 15 schools,” she added. “Having fundraisers like this that are more local are going to help us continue supporting this district.”
Another purpose of the classroom was to promote the back-to-school spirit, invoke creativity in youth, and celebrate as students return to the classroom without COVID-19 restrictions in place.
“A healthy breakfast sets kids up to be creative and productive students in the classroom,” Tatlow said.
In the future, Tatlow is hoping to pair up with other organizations to help better the community.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to create playful, interactive experiences and to make those experiences mean something to the communities in which we do business,” he said. “We’re always looking for opportunities to bring people together and to make an impact through charitable donations through organizations.”
