Mr. Speaker, I rise today to describe a well-conceived, multi-faceted, and much-needed charitable program operating in my area, the Breakfast With Santa Foundation.
Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting and viewing aspects of this unique project at one of its locations, Brian W. Fleming Public School in my riding of Mississauga EastâCooksville.
The foundation, established 27 years ago and still headed by its founder, Maria Esteves, celebrates the Christmas season, as denoted in its name. It serves breakfast at special events to underprivileged families in Peel region at Christmas and provides daily breakfast in the summer months, when school-based morning meals are not available.
To date, over 94,000 meals have been served to hungry children, and Christmas has been celebrated with 20,000 people in an attempt to fill gaps for those most in need.
It was my privilege to have seen the remarkable work of this foundation in action. In the near future, let there be no hungry children in any of our ridings.