Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in toronto, CN

Panera Bread Fundaiser for the Make-A Wish Toronto & Central Ontario

by Katie

August 10, 2009

Recently I found out about a new bakery cafe in Toronto called Panera Bread. They bake their own handcrafted, artisan bread plus make delicious sounding sandwiches with wholesome, healthy stuff like antibiotic chicken and in-season veggies. I'm always looking for new places to try for lunch, especially places that offer sandwiches because I've also recently discovered that putting meat and/or veggies between bread increases the likelyhood of my picky eater actually consuming it, or at least giving it a try. I have no idea why but who am I to question the mind of an almost-four year old?

Anyhow, I also just found out that Panera Bread is starting a really cool program that will raise money to benefit three kids in need of the Make-A-Wish foundation.  Now this isn't a one day fundraiser kind of thing, this program will run each weekday for two weeks -- during lunch hours -- in all three of the locations. They shared some information on the program with me, and maybe next time you are craving a sandwich, you can grab one that will help a child in need.

Panera Bread will be starting its Weekday Wishes program in support of Make-A-Wish Toronto & Central Ontario. As part of its Weekday Wishes program, Panera Bread will join the Toronto community in supporting Make-A-Wish by donating five percent of proceeds from the sale of any item between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  The Weekday Wishes program will run Monday through Friday for two weeks beginning next Monday, August 17 and concluding Friday, August 28.
 
Proceeds raised will help grant the wishes of Casey, age 16, who loves sports and wishes to go on a shopping spree; Stephanie, age 7, whose favorite color is pink and who dreams of going to Disney World; and Caroline, age 19, whose best day was the day of her prom and who wishes to go to New York.
 
Additionally, as part of its ongoing Community Breadbox program, Panera Bread will match all cash donations made by customers in each of its three Toronto-area bakery-cafes.  Funds raised will be donated annually to support Make-A-Wish’s mission to grant the wishes of Toronto-area children with life-threatening medical conditions.
 
As part of Panera’s further commitment to the communities in which it does business, Toronto-area bakery-cafes will also give back through the local Day-End Dough-Nation™ program, in which all unsold bread and baked goods are donated to local hunger relief organizations. Collectively, Panera Bread bakery-cafes donated over $40 million worth of unsold bread and baked goods in 2007 to help people in need.
 
Panera Bread bakery-cafes are now open in Thornhill (1020 Centre Street), Richmond Hill (9350 Yonge Street), and Mississauga (55 Square One Drive).

image courtesy of Panera Bread

Toronto-centric kids books

by Katie

November 25, 2008

What better way to learn about Toronto than to read some kid-friendly books dedicated to the city. Toronto is a massive city, full of interesting places, natural wonders, and of course: hockey. Here are my top five picks for Toronto-centric kid books: The Lobster Kids' Guide to Exploring Toronto (Kids' City Explorer Series) is a Toronto Guide written for kids (okay,okay - parents are allowed  Read more...

Top Five dinner table destinations

by Katie

July 22, 2008

When the decision is made that it's too hot to cook our own food - which is so easy to do in this humidity - we prefer that all eat-out fare consists of food that none of us would ever dream of creating in the kitchen. So that usually means sampling other cultures and making me feel all exotic for breaking away from my spaghetti or grilled-cheese areas of specialization. Living in Toronto makes  Read more...