Enjoy a sweet Valentine’s Day brunch at home while giving kids a helping hand

February 7, 2020 · 0 Comments

PJs & Pancakes sets sights on Valentine’s weekend

What comes to mind when you think of a nice, cozy pair of pyjamas?

Maybe it’s a warm morning at home on a cold winter’s day. Maybe it’s cuddling up in bed with a good book. For some youngsters battling a life-changing illness, however, it might mean bringing the comforts of home in for a hospital stay, or an early morning trek for treatment.

But a morning at home in your pyjamas this Valentine’s Day weekend, tucking into a stack of pancakes with your family can help brighten the future for young kids across Ontario who might not have that luxury as Aurora’s Beswick family – siblings Kate, Meghan and Jack – brings their PJs & Pancakes initiative back for the most romantic weekend of the year.

PJs & Pancakes, an initiative benefiting POGO – the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario, has been a Thanksgiving staple for the past two years, helping the Beswick siblings raise more than $50,000 for children’s cancer programs.

This year, they’ve flipped the script on the Pancake initiative, bringing it once again into people’s homes just in time for Valentine’s.

For a $50 minimum donation, with every dollar benefiting POGO, you can order a box that includes everything you need for a bountiful breakfast, from pre-mixed pancake batter to fresh maple syrup, from coffee and juice to fresh fruit, from Valentine’s treats to even a heart-shaped pancake mould, enough to feed a family of four.

“We were inspired to bring it to Valentine’s Day this year because we wanted to share the love back, not only in terms of our community and bringing people together to support POGO, but also to love the people who have supported us over the last two years and really made this event something so special. Through our Instagram page last year, we had lots of people tagging us, posting photos of them and their families making pancakes from home and people said it was something so special to gather with their families and really make the time to have breakfast together.

“POGO’s feedback has been amazing as well. They have always just supported us and tried to help us in whatever way they could. We really love that and I think that the relationship between my siblings and I, this event and POGO, is special because we’re also kids in Ontario and we’re doing this to support the people who live in our neighbourhood and who face a struggle that we cannot even imagine, but who are similar to us in so many ways, and I feel like it is just even more of a special connection to have kids doing this for other kids.”

With a $10,000 goal in mind for this season’s initiative, the Beswicks hope they will be as successful as ever in helping to support the 4,000 children in Ontario who are currently fighting cancer.

“We’re hoping every family who buys a box will share and enjoy pancakes at home with their families in their PJs and also take some time to consider and think about the families of children fighting cancer in Ontario today,” says Meghan. “With the support of everyone who buys a box or contributes a donation, every dollar we earn goes directly to the Paediatric Oncology Group of Ontario and the children they support.

“This initiative has definitely made my siblings and I more aware of how much it takes to make a difference and help out, how also how little it takes to find a cause that you connect with and put yourself out there. We have had such success and an amazing response from the community who wants to support us.”

To order your full PJs & Pancakes kit just in time for Valentine’s Day, visit pjsandpancakes.wixsite.com/spreadthelove2020, or contact 905-717-5819.

By Brock Weir