Collette Offers Food For Thought

Several members of the travel industry turned out to help Collette lend a helping hand to those in need Nov. 3.

The endeavour, as PressToday’s Mike Baginski learned, was part of the Collette Cares program, which on this day consisted of making meals at Eden Food For Change in Western Mississauga – a charity that serves 400 households a month with both fresh and packaged food items. People can donate food or cash, or, like Collette, come in and make meals under the supervision of Chef Peter Costello.

The special du jour was tourtiere and getting into, literally up to the elbows, the cooking were Collette’s Brett Walker (far left), Brittany McFarlane and Kelly Frantz, along with Patrice Bell of Brand USA; Dana Welsh, Tourism Ireland; Antje Splettstoesser, Germany National Tourist Office; William Delgado, Tourism Portugal; and Maura Giacobbe, of the Italian Tourism Office (ENIT).

Collette’s Walker says the Streetsville-based tour operator supports the charity year-round and visits about six to eight times a year with friends, family and business colleagues. Groups are charged $500 for the cooking experience, which is also educational and fun, with the money going to support Eden Food.

“We give, but we also engage,” says Walker. “It’s something we can do within our own community.”