Cereal Drive Benefits Needy

Two second-year Culinary Management students wanted to do something for the community so they visited St. Joseph's Hospitality Centre at 707 Dundas St. East.

Jessie Jones and Laura Holme learned that what the centre needed to feed clients who drop in for breakfast is breakfast cereal. So, they got permission to start a cereal drive at Fanshawe. That was in October and about 75 boxes of cereal have been collected. The drive ended November 28, 2008, with a breakfast at Saffron's.


"The tickets for the breakfast were $10 apiece and when we've covered our costs all the money left over will be donated to the hospitality centre," said Patrick Hersey, coordinator of Fanshawe's Culinary Management program.  As a result, the students raised $600 in cash, 75 boxes of cereal and seven bags of canned goods for the drop-in centre.

The coordinator of the hospitality centre, Bill Payne, was on hand for the breakfast to receive the money and the cereal.

Payne said the centre has been open for 25 years. It is supported by the Sisters of St. Joseph, there is corporate funding and corporate food donations. Clients pay 50 cents for breakfast and $1 for lunch. Payne said if they don't have the money they can get credit which, he said, accounts for about half the 300 or so people who use the centre daily. He said they started charging when they couldn't meet the demand.

"Years ago, it was free here and the numbers were too much to handle." He said the money helps the kitchen to buy staples, it also helps the clients. "It also gives our guests a sense of dignity that they are contributing and it also helps us to put out as good a meal as possible."

Payne said donations like the one coming from Fanshawe are even more important in this tough economic climate. "It's very important," he said. "More and more businesses aren't able to contribute as much as they used to."