Community Makes The Event: An Exceptional Stampede Breakfast
Norfolk Housing Association's Stampede breakfasts have long been one of our favourite events to host each year. It's SO much fun and a true testament every single year to the power of community.
And that power was even more evident this year, with local groups coming together to help us pull off a "green" breakfast, fueled by hearty and healthy options, and serving 500 people within 2 hours.
With the help and guidance of neighbours, the 158 Pathfinders Paxhill District, and the Stampede Environmental Team this year, we had rinse stations set up on site and loads of real, reusable plates and cutlery on offer to cut down on waste. Almost everything else was compostable or recycleable, and guests to the breakfast were encouraged to bring their own plates, cups, or cutlery in exchange for extra raffle tickets.
And it went off without a hitch! What seemed like a huge feat (washable, breakable plates???) ended up being a relatively easy switch and guests were overwhelmingly supportive and excited about the effort. In the end, we had less than one bag of garbage!
But the green power didn't stop there. Local band The Enablers, led by The Arusha Centre's GM (and NHA Board Member), Gerald brought along their pedal power bike, reducing the electricity needed to fuel the tunes by about half! Shout out to his team who kept those pedals moving ;-) They were joined by the beautiful vocal talents of Catherine Hesketh and Mariya Stokes throughout the morning.
It takes a village to pull off a 500 person event, and we are so grateful to ours. The Stampede Promotion Committee and Batter Boys are a crucial part of our breakfast's success and they flipped over 1000 pancakes and cooked up 1000 sausages, helped entice people into the event, and generally spread so much fun. We love having them and appreciate their support so much.
We also felt very supported by our local representatives, receiving visits this year from both our local MLA Kathleen Ganley and our Honourable Mayor Nenshi. It means a lot to know that our hard-working representatives believe in NHA's mission to provide affordable, mixed-income housing to Calgarians in need and we are so grateful for their support.
Our good friends and partners at Accessible Housing came out for the third year in a row to help, we received more resident and community volunteers than ever, and friends Cascade Accounting (the same wonderful folks who held a free tax clinic for some of our residents earlier this year) and several of our incredible Board members also came out to ensure the event was a success. Without these contributions, we could never run the breakfast. Plus, it's way more fun to do it with so many friends! Thank you to all of you for your help and fun attitudes along the way.
We received so many donations this year, and every year, that also make the event possible. Starbucks in Kensington donated coffee, Peasant Cheese donated SO much droolworthy cheese, Sunnyside Natural Market donated fresh cherries and bananas, and Lassonde donated juice boxes. Can you even believe it?! What other breakfast gets so much deliciousness? We feel very spoiled.
Additionally, friends from around the community donated to our giant raffle basket with all sorts of items that we gave to one lucky winner. Thank you to Ingear, Raw Eatery, Kensington Wine Market, D'Orient Spa, Hayden Block, Livingstone & Cavell, The Beehive, and the Kensington Dollar Store.
You see now what we mean by the power of community! It truly takes a village; so from all of us at Norfolk Housing Association, thank you to our village! We can't wait to do it all again next year.
