Molson in the Community

Things have been buzzing around the Meal Exchange office these past few weeks. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the work we do- we’re a national youth-led charity that engages students across Canada to address hunger in their communities.

At the moment, we’re gearing up for our May fundraising campaign- ‘Fill ‘er Up- Meal Exchange’s Grocery Cart Challenge’. Our goal is to raise $5000 by May 31^st through the combined efforts of individual donations across Canada. It’s amazing how even small contributions can really add up- we’re asking students to donate $12, or the cost of attending a movie and adults to donate $28- the cost of going out to a nice restaurant. If the $5000 target is reached, it will enable us to provide 6000 meals for those in need. What makes it even better is that Molson has agreed to match all donations made! If you’re interested in contributing or want to watch our grocery cart fill throughout the month as donations come in, visit us at www.mealexchange.com starting May 5^th!

As part of our May Campaign, we’re also partnering with the Bishop Strachan school here in Toronto to host a unique benefit event that will assist us in our youth-led hunger reduction initiatives. Adapting our Portraits of Hunger program, the students really have gone above & beyond to tell the stories of those most vulnerable in the Toronto community. The performance called ‘4 Corners’ is an original play based on transcripts, interview & outreach work on the subject of hunger in Toronto. This will be a one of a kind event showcases the talent of Bishop Strachan students as they showcase the real stories of those facing hunger in our community. You can catch the performance on either May 20^th or 21^st and can purchase tickets online at www.mealexchange.com. Hope to see you there!

And last but definitely not least- it’s National Volunteer Week! Our organization has just 2 staff & so the work that we do across Canada happens BECAUSE of our student volunteers. Not only are they are the one’s on the ground where all the magic happens, but they are dedicated & incredibly enthusiastic individuals that have a vision for a country without hunger- and they inspire everyone they work with- myself included!

Leisha Zamecnik, Communications and Program Manager, Meal Exchange.

Molson employees volunteering time at the Framework Foundation’s Toronto Timeraiser on Saturday, April 5, 2008.  From left: Peter Bombaci, Fiona Cunningham, Tonia Hammer, Sebastien Gagner, Kathleen Krisciunas.

‘Wow’ is the only way I can describe how amazing Saturday night at the 5th annual Timeraiser was.  Held at the beautiful Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District, this year’s Toronto event was sold out days before the event date.

What is a Timeraiser you ask? 

A Timeraiser is a charity art auction where rather than bidding money, you bid the number of hours that you are willing to volunteer for an organization of your choice — An AMAZING way to help young Canadians who want to volunteer, connect with different organizations.

This year’s Toronto event was a great success, raising over 11,000 hours – way above the original goal of 7,500.  Everyone was bidding like crazy!  The bid maximum was 150 hours per piece of artwork, and at least 90% of the art pieces reached the maximum amount.

Molson has been a proud sponsor of Timeraiser since its conception 5 years ago.  Some of Molson’s community partners were part of the event too, including The United Way and Meal Exchange.  I decided to bid hours for Meal Exchange, and I can’t wait to start working with such a great organization.

Interview with Molson employee and Timeraiser volunteer, Peter Bombaci

Watch for upcoming Timeraisers in Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver - www.timeraiser.com for more information.

Proud to play our part…..cheers!

Last Friday evening (January 25th), I joined Molson and many student volunteers from Meal Exchange at Black Betty in downtown Toronto to celebrate Molson’s partnership with the unique charity - Meal Exchange is a national student-founded, youth-driven, registered charity organized to address local hunger by mobilizing the talent and passion of students.

Judy McClelland, Molson’s Donations Officer, presented a $25,000 donation to Andrew Tam, Meal Exchange’s Chairman of the Board and Dave Kranenburg, Executive Director of Meal Exchange. Molson’s donation helped Meal Exchange reach a huge milestone - it has now raised $2 million to support community-based, hunger-relief programs across Canada.

Black Betty was packed with grateful student volunteers from Meal Exchange who enjoyed complimentary drinks, snacks and giveaways provided by Molson.

Congrats to the students at Meal Exchange for their hard work and dedication!

Molson…..Proud to play our part.

You will notice that Tonia will be blogging for Molson in the coming days. She joins us from Humber College and is an intern for the next four months. Tonia will be covering a number of our community activities and is off to “Meal Exchange“ tonight at Black Betty’s to cover this new Molson partner in the community.  Welcome Tonia and stay tuned.