BONAVISTA, NL – If you visit College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Bonavista campus next week and suddenly find yourself craving apple pie, there’s a reason for it.
Up to 120 reasons, in fact.
The campus, students and staff of the Cultural Culinary Arts & Tourism (CCAT) program, along with the Saltwater Community Association have united for a worthy cause this Christmas. The Pie Project aims to provide holiday cheer, pies and a Mary Browns voucher to single seniors living on fixed incomes in the Bonavista, Elliston, Spillers Cove and Catalina areas.
CCAT students, along with their instructors Katie Hayes and Roger Dewling, will prepare the dough – a lengthy process given the number of pies required for such a large venture. This will be followed by the peeling the donated apples and getting the ingredients ready for the pie. By Thursday, Dec. 19, the campus will be surrounded by the mouth-watering aroma of delicious apple pies baking throughout the day.
CRoger Dewling, Chef at Bonavista campus, was giving Cultural Culinary Arts & Tourism students, David Kane and Hunter McLaughlin, tips for making a special cheesecake. The class will be involved in a special Pie Project this Christmas with the Saltwater Community Association for single seniors living on fixed incomes that will see 100-120 apple pies made and delivered.
Jamie Best, campus manager, said when the campus was approached by Saltwater, they didn’t think twice about participating in the project.
“When you look at it, here is a wonderful community engagement project that reaches out to those are not well-resourced in our area,” he said. “We are lucky to have our instructional team of Roger Dewling and Katie Hayes and their chef/baking expertise is a fantastic resource for our community. They will expose our first year CCAT students to a hands-on learning experience with this project, as well as an experiential learning opportunity impacting the community right from their classroom. You can’t ask for a better win than that.”
Betty Fitzgerald, CEO for Saltwater, has volunteers lined up to deliver the pies Friday, Dec. 20.
“The partnership with CNA and our sponsors that will see these pies baked demonstrates a level of community spirit and generosity that was above and beyond our expectations,” said Fitzgerald. “We’re raising funds and promoting initiatives to serve the people who need them most. We believe in taking action in order to raise public awareness about some of the most pressing issues facing youth and families in the communities we serve from Bonavista to Clarenville.”
Brenda Tobin, CNA’s Dean of Academics, Applied Arts & Tourism, said this project was a wonderful way and meaningful time of the year to see the CCAT faculty and students lending their cultural culinary helping hands to the Saltwater Community Association’s Pie Project.
“Opportunities for our students to build on their skills in such meaningful and worthwhile community projects are invaluable and contribute so much to their learning experiences,” she said. “It is always wonderful to see these new opportunities being created, and I extend my very best wishes to all those involved.”
Each pie will bear a sticker outlining all the sponsors involved in the project who graciously covered the cost of the ingredients and materials, as well as a label telling seniors the pies were a special delivery from the CCAT students and Saltwater.
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Media contact:
Michelle Barry
Communications Manager
College of the North Atlantic
709-643-7721
Michelle.barry@cna.nl.ca
Betty Fitzgerald
Saltwater Community Association
709-218-7955
saltwatercommunityassociation@gmail.com