2007 Events December 15th — Festive Special at Swiss Chalet Thank you to Swiss Chalet for this special day where a $1.00 donation was made to Christmas Exchange for every Festive Special or quarter chicken dinner sold at participating Swiss Chalet locations in the Ottawa area. Over $3,000 was raised which went to providing food hampers and food vouchers to those in need during the Christmas holiday season. December 8th — Running on Empties It was a sunny, crisp winter day for the 18th annual Running on Empties event where over 90 volunteers including several VIP guests stood outside participating Beer Stores to help collect empty beer, wine and liquor bottles to support Christmas Exchange. VIP guests who were in attendance included Councillor Peggy Feltmate, Councillor Maria McRae, Councillor Shad Qadri, Councillor Marianne Wilkinson, and Pierre Poilievre, M.P. Nepean-Carleton. This year, the campaign raised close to $14,000. Thank you to those who donated their empties, to the managers and staff at the Beer Stores, and to the VIP guests and volunteers. As well, special thanks goes to the following service clubs for providing volunteers and helping at the event – Kiwanis Club of Nepean, Kiwanis Club of Ottawa-Vanier, Rotary Club of Ottawa South, Rotary Club of West Ottawa, Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown, National Capital Kin Club, Rotary Club of South Nepean, Kanata Kiwanis, and Rotary Club of Ottawa-Stittsville. December 1st to 14th — Trees of Hope The Trees of Hope campaign was once again another great success thanks to all local participating Loeb stores who sold the paper Trees of Hope for $2.00 to in-store customers. Customers who purchased a Tree of Hope were encouraged to write their name on the paper tree which was then put on display on the store windows. The Trees of Hope campaign raised over $10,000 for Christmas Exchange. Thank you to the managers and staff at all Ottawa area Loeb stores for their continuing support of this program. November–December — Pennies for Portions Thank you to all the students, teachers and staff at local schools who collected pennies and other loose change to help provide food hampers and vouchers for families in need during the Christmas holiday season. With 17 schools participating in this year’s Pennies for Portions program, the total amount raised was close to $10,000. Once again thank you to the following schools for their generous contribution to this program — Sir Winston Churchill Public School, Joan of Arc Academy, Queen Mary Street Public School, Lakeview Public School, Arch Street Public School, Brookfield High School, Hilson Avenue Public School, Berrigan Elementary School, Bayview Public School, General Vanier Public School, J.H. Putnam Public School, Barrhaven Public School, Manordale Public School, Our Lady of Peace Catholic School, Greely E. School, Charles H. Hulse Public School, and Robert E. Wilson Public School. Also, thank you to the volunteers who helped with coin pick ups and wrapping the coins including those from Ottawa-Carleton Lifeskills Inc., Tamir, St. Patrick’s Catholic High School High Needs Program, and Park Place Retirement Residence. November 28 — Pennies for Portions Kick Off 10:00am Joan of Arc Academy Students at the Joan of Arc Academy and players from the Ottawa 67s hockey team joined forces for a special fundraising event in support of Christmas Exchange. The event was the kick-off for the 12th Annual Pennies for Portions fundraising campaign. On November 28, all the students in the school had a chance to score a goal against the Ottawa 67s in an exciting ball hockey shootout for $1 per shot. Christmas Exchange Campaign Chair Sandra Blaikie, Anchor, A-Channel News at 6, was on hand to help with the play by play and cheer on the students as they worked hard to score goals. The shootout was a fun and exciting event that raised more than $630 for Christmas Exchange. Click here to view photos of the event. December 1st — Christmas Cheer Broadcast on 580 CFRA Tune in for Christmas music, merry moments and local personalities reading pledges. Pledges and donations collected on the Broadcast will go to the Christmas Cheer Foundation which will benefit the Christmas Exchange and The Ottawa Food Bank. For more information, visit www.christmascheer.ca December 7th — Christmas Cheer Breakfast at the Westin This event organized by the Christmas Cheer Foundation and held at The Westin is the networking breakfast of the year where you can meet local celebrities as they serve the food. Proceeds from the breakfast will go to Christmas Exchange and The Ottawa Food Bank. For more information and for tickets, visit www.christmascheer.ca October 6th — Ottawa’s Biggest Bake Sale 9:30 am to 1:00 pm Fourth Avenue Baptist Church Pumpkin pies and cookies of all kinds were just some of the delicious goodies at the 7th Annual Ottawa’s Biggest Bake Sale. Not even the rain could stop the hungry people of Ottawa from satisfying their sweet tooth and coming out to support Christmas Exchange and the other participating organizations. Sandra Blaikie, Anchor A-Channel News at 6 and the 2007 Christmas Exchange Campaign Chair, was on hand to kick off the event along with Bake Sale Chair and Ottawa Citizen Food Columnist Gay Cook. They were joined throughout the day by local VIPs such as Max Keeping and Corey Ginther of CTV News, City of Ottawa Councillors Clive Doucet and Shad Qadri, Former Mayor of Ottawa Jacquelin Holzman, and many others who helped serve coffee and some of the baked goodies. A special thanks to the eight community groups who participated this year as well as all of the wonderful Ottawa Bakeries who donated to the Bake Sale. They include Aladdin Bakery, Artistic Cake Design, Cakes by Tatiana, Château Fine Pastry and Bakery, Chelsea Bakery, Dover’s Bagel, Isobel & Company, Margo’s Homemade Desserts, Morrison’s Fudge, Mrs. Beasley’s Bake Shop Inc., Ottawa Bagel Shop & Deli, Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana Ltd., Pastry & Bakery la Brioche, Second Avenue Sweets, Swiss Pastries, Three Tarts, Trillium Bakery, The Gingerbread Man, and Wild Oat Bakery Café and Catering. The Bake Sale was a huge success as we were able to raise close to $7,500. We also thank our sponsors TD Canada Trust, A-Channel, Ottawa Citizen and Bridgehead. See photos of the event. July 12th – Christmas in July 6:00 am to 9:00 am Fallowfield Transit Station The second annual Christmas in July started off bright and sunny with many early morning bus commuters enjoying a free breakfast of pea meal bacon on a bun, yogurt, juice and coffee. Breakfast was served by various local politicians and VIPs that included Senator Mac Harb, Pierre Poilievre MP Nepean-Carleton, the Hon. Jim Watson MPP West Nepean, John Tory MPP and leader of the Ontario PC Party, Lisa MacLeod MPP Nepean-Carleton, Mayor Larry O’Brien, Councillors Jan Harder, Steve Desroches, Maria McRae, and Marianne Wilkinson, Nancy Shepers, Deputy City Manager for Planning, Transit and the Environment, and philanthropist and restauranteur Dave Smith. A–Channel Morning was also there hosting live broadcasts of the event. The breakfast was a success raising close to $2500 for the Christmas Exchange. Our thanks to the politicians and VIPs who came to help with the breakfast along with our sponsors, Enbridge, Scotiabank, A–Channel, Starbucks Coffee, Ross’ Your Independent Grocer, OC Transpo, and Erb Transport for providing the refrigerated truck. Click here to view photos from the event 2006 Events For more information on any of these events or for sponsorship opportunities, please call us at 613-226-6434 Back to top