Thirteen students from Westmount High School headed out at dawn last month to a Provigo store on Saint-Jacques for a cooking class.

It was not an ordinary morning; this was the launch of the Holiday Food and Toy Drive with Global News, Generations Foundation and Mega Bloks. This Provigo, managed by JeanBenoît Gauthier, houses an École Culinaire above their grocery mezzanine and Chef Grace Lo Dico, responsible for cooking classes for a variety of groups, was already on site.

You could not help but admire the room’s festive decor with a delicious breakfast buffet prepared by Chef Grace and her helpers. Kim Sullivan and the Global News morning team were there for their 6am start to on-air programming along with the students.

Holiday excitement was in the air! Breakfast began with frozen The Azrieli Foundation has announced a new $50,000 cash award for a Canadian who composes a new major work, to be performed by the Montreal-based Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, led by director Lorraine Vaillancourt.

Submissions are to be received in February and the winning work is to be premiered alongside other Azrieli Music Prize winning works at a gala concert scheduled for October 2020. Plans are for future rounds of the new prize to be offered for other leading Canadian ensembles and performance groups as part of the goal to expand the Canadian music repertoire.

Apart from the cash prize and gala concert the new prize includes a recording contract with Analekta and related promotional activities, and an international performance date organized by the Azrieli foundation, as well as pre-concert education and outreach events. The total value of the package is said to be $200,000 for each winner, which the foundation says is the largest such prize in Canada and among the world’s most lucrative.

It is the third prize to be offered biennially through the Azrieli Music Prize program. yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and the students proceeded to grate, chop, blend, and stir-fry. They then assembled and devoured the fruit of their labours, scrambled eggs, veggie and cheese-in-a-pita-bread burrito.

Students and guests partook of the buffet, laden with freshly brewed coffee, kale orange juice with sliced pound cake, croissants, cheese cubes and fruit in all the healthy colors. The students assisted Kim in closing out the show with the weather report and a resounding wave goodbye.

On a regular school day, the Westmount High student council members arrive at school at 6:30 am daily to prepare the breakfast available to 300 of their fellow students and they are responsible for cleaning up before they begin their regular school classes. Westmount High is one of many schools and learning centers for which Generations Foundation provides milk, eggs, and other breakfast items.

Other schools may opt for hot meals and/or a variety of snacks. Generations Foundation is looking for sponsors for their cooking classes.

Info: generationsfoundation.com 514-933-8585