World Food Party Celebration 2011

Centered around the United Nations World Food Day on October 16, CFTC’s first World Food Party saw great success among schools, corporations and individuals alike! Groups raised money through bake sales and dinner parties; individuals donated money they would have spent dining out; and corporations asked staff to bring their lunch and donate their lunch money.

With over 925 million people experiencing chronic hunger around the world, the donations that were made to World Food Party will help to feed children and their families through CFTC’s nutritional programs.

In the town of Smiths Falls, Ontario, students at the Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute kicked off their fundraising for World Food Party on October 12, and used an ingenious system called Penny Wars to actively engage students in fundraising. Students were asked to donate their pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, toonies and loonies to help their homeroom raise more money than competing homerooms in the school.

Thanks to the support of an enthusiastic Student’s Council, SFDCI raised an amazing $1,500 by simply engaging students to donate their spare change, proving that anything is possible if everyone gives a little.

Andrea Basta works at Alamos Gold, located in downtown Toronto, and she took the reins to engage her coworkers to take part in a personal World Food Party campaign. “When you ask for donations in the office, lots of time people will give without really understanding what they are giving to.  I wanted to personalize our approach, and let people know about what their donations are for – how each dollar they contributed would be used to feed hungry children.” So Andrea took time to speak to each of her fellow 11 employees, offering them information about CFTC’s programs that support children’s nutrition world-wide and how participating in World Food Day could help. Overall this 12-person organization raised more than $600, which included a match from Jamie Porter, Alamos Gold’s CFO (and Chair of CFTC’s Finance and Audit Committee).

Even a staff member here at CFTC took World Food Party as an opportunity to throw a dinner party for her friends, and she enjoyed a great night discussing international development and CFTC’s programs. Donations were accepted from all dinner guests, and this dinner party raised over $300.

These examples are just a glimpse into the many activities that took place during World Food Party week, and CFTC would like to thank everyone who took part! All contributions will be sent to help feed children nutritional meals around the world, which we hope will warm many hearts as we head into the holiday season. Thank you for your support!