“I call this my million-dollar breakfast,” says Adrian Bercovici, executive director of Generations. This 15th Breakast in seven years marked the first time that the money raised since the beginning exceeds a million dollars. “That's just from the breakfasts alone,” says Bercovici.

The people who have helped him reach this goal are close to his heart. “I couldn't do this without Global Television, Hasbro Toys and Buffet La Stanza,” he says.

When Bercovici and his wife Natalie began feeding Point-St-Charles kids in November 1999, reporter Jamie Orchard of Global TV came to interview them. Bercovici mentioned he and Natalie felt each child should get a new toy for Christmas, and Orchard immediately agreed. “Jamie told everyone at Global, 'let's put our heads together and do something for Adrian.' The next morning they came with dozens and dozens of boxes filled with Hasbro toys.”

From feeding 200 children seven years ago, the organization now serves 6,300 students in 50 schools and nine learning centres. “After all these years, money is required to supply these hot meals. Global, La Stanza and Hasbro have undertaken this. They donate 300 toys so each child that comes to the breakfast gets an exciting toy.”

Although Bercovici says he and Natalie are “very proud” of having come this far, he also says he'd like nothing better than to put himself out of business. Bercovici says child poverty is getting worse and the solution doesn't lie in creating more institutions to help them but in teaching people in need to help themselves.

But he doesn't see that happening soon. “Many jobs are being shipped out of the country and the lower end of salaries is being shrunk,” he says. “People are spending 50% to 60% of their income on rent. That doesn't leave much for an emergency. And it's the children who suffer.”

Bercovici says the government isn't doing enough for kids in need. “Most of our political parties have no clear vision for the future. The future begins with children.”