Kids Can Fly is gearing up for its 18th annual Storybook Breakfast fundraiser on Saturday, February 8, 2025.
With the support of nearly 100 volunteers, the pancake character meet-and-greet breakfast will be hosted over two sittings, one at 8:30 a.m. and the other at 11:00 a.m., at the Affinity Conference Centre in Brantford.
Becca McLellan, Executive Director of Kids Can Fly (a registered charity that supports early learning and parenting), said that during the event, around 50 storybook and popular cartoon characters will be roaming throughout the space and interacting with the youngsters.
“It’s a really great event where kids can come dressed up in their costumes, have breakfast with their family members, and meet some of their favourite storybook and cartoon characters,” said McLellan. “We really try to go all out so each table has a theme based on a different storybook and we have our characters roaming around the room as well as imagination stations where kids can interact with characters from that backdrop so for example, a princess station and a Dr. Seuss station and so on.”
Children in attendance will also receive a booklet to collect autographs, a ticket for a free printed keepsake photo with a character, as well as a ticket for a goodie bag that includes a book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library inside.
While the event is geared to children ages two to eight, McLellan said that youngsters under two are of course more than welcome.
“I would say two to eight is the ideal age range because the event itself is kind of more relevant for that age group, but of course some families may have little kids that are younger than that and so we don’t expect them to leave them behind at home,” she said.
McLellan continued to say that while the event is a fundraiser to help support Kids Can Fly initiatives and programming, at the event’s core, it’s all about making an impact in the community.
“Of course this event is our biggest fundraiser of the year but I think most of our team members just love the community impact part because when those kids come, they’re just wowed by the decorations and they’re so excited to meet their favourite characters and it really just a sweet thing to see them smiling like that,” she said.
Because the Storybook Breakfast is the non-profit’s biggest fundraising event of the year, none of it would be possible without their dedicated sponsors.
“We get a lot of grants and donations for specific programs, initiatives and supplies that we need, but the event really helps with those operations that are harder to get funding for and we’re just so thankful for sponsors like Paul Williamson, the James F Boughner Foundation, Adkins Financial, Sylvan Learning Brantford, TD Bank and Brimich Logistics,” said McLellan. “Without them, an event like this just wouldn’t be possible and they really help to make the Storybook Breakfast as affordable and accessible as possible because we aren’t interested in nickel and diming these families, we just want them to have a fun time.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
