United Way hosts 'breakfast club' fundraiser for grown-ups

The United Way of Winnipeg invited grown-ups to a special fundraising breakfast on Fridayone that had kids' breakfast staples on the menu.

About 200 "United Way friends" gathered at the Manitoba Children's Museum to enjoy the same basic meal that children at the Plessis Road Family Resource Centre's breakfast club eat before school.

That breakfast included cereal, muffins, fruit, yogurt and juice boxes. (There was also coffee available at the event for the adults.)

The United Way, which is in the middle of its annual fundraising campaign,says proceeds from each ticket sold will help provide three more breakfasts for children at the Plessis centre.

Donations to the United Way support 23 family resource centres across Winnipeg.

Leah McGuiness, a single mother whose six children go to thePlessis Road Family Resource Centre's breakfast club, said she doesn't know what her family would do without it.

She helps with the program, and the resource centre has provided her with support, she added.

"Absolutely, it saved my life," McGuiness said.

"I would be in total isolation and desperation, not knowing where to turn or even having the energy to get the help I need to access these resources in the community."

McGuiness said the breakfast program, along with the centre's "walking school bus" program, help put low-income children in the neighbourhood on a level playing field with other kids.

"I'm very happy to be a part of it, and just seeing these kids get to school happy, healthy and fed, just like the other kids they have to sit with in class," she said.