The holidays are a busy time for most, and the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre (CDC) is no exception.
The organization’s Christmas Wish Breakfast on Dec. 11 was a terrific success, with over 1,400 gifts donated by community members in exchange for a warm buffet to start off their day.
“We’re supporting the people who support us,” said Vanessa Riplinger, executive director of the CDC.
Every gift donated in exchange for breakfast is made available to agencies that work with kids, who in turn hand them to children and youth who might not get gifts for Christmas. Breakfast-goers also made monetary donations amounting to more than $5,000, which will be spent on restocking gifts.
This is the 19th year the breakfast is held, and its eighth time doing so at Boston Pizza. This is the only time of year Boston Pizza cooks breakfast and the restaurant’s involvement makes it the only Boston Pizza which offers morning meals.
Over the years, CDC’s Wish Breakfast has accumulated about 24,000 gifts donated to children in and around Williams Lake, and it’s all thanks to a generous community.
“I’m just incredibly grateful...we couldn’t do it without the community, they lift the children up,” Riplinger told the Tribune.
The breakfast, made possible by 49 volunteers, hosted 951 guests just one week after CDC’S Yuletide Dinner which this year fed over 400 people who otherwise may not have had a holiday dinner.
Both meals are an annual tradition for the non-profit organization which provides assessments, education and assistance to children needing extra support in Williams Lake and its surrounding areas.
