Breakfast Club

It didn’t start with breakfast; it started with a complaint.

Some of the regular attendees at Plymouth-Trinity United Church were frustrated that community members were arriving late for the worship service. These families, who would arrive with four or more children in tow, were understandably delayed. If you have ever had to help one or more children get ready to leave the house, and struggled to find that one missing shoe, you understand. Though it started with a complaint, there was also a question to be asked: If it is important for us to be able to worship all together in community, how can we make it easier to do so?

In January 2025, Pastor Samuel Vauvert Dansokho had an idea for something new they could try. Before worship, everyone from the community was invited to come early for a free breakfast. It started simple with cereals, toast, and instant oatmeal. The first Sunday had more than 25 community members show up, half of whom were children. Though the numbers have not always been that high, the experiment affirmed they were on the right track. Now there’s an average attendance of 10–15 diners each Sunday.

As part of a grant received last year, the community of faith hired Celestine Alimasi as Breakfast Club Coordinator in September 2025. This shifted the ongoing responsibilities of planning, shopping, setting up, and cleaning to one consistent worker. With this change, Breakfast Club has been offered almost every Sunday since its launch in September, with only a couple of weeks skipped when there was no worship service that week.

The best-laid plans always have bumps along the way. To remove the financial burden of staff spending their own money on supplies and waiting to be reimbursed, grocery cards were purchased. However, barriers were not anticipated, such as which store was most accessible by public transit. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way! 

Generosity has been abundant, not only in the form of a grant but in baked goods and fruit prepared by community members, in financial donations, and in fundraising through a Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper. Recently, Pastor Samuel made a connection with a local international grocery store, securing an ongoing donation of “day-old” breads, which can be eaten at a Toast Bar. When there have been larger donations, loaves of bread are frozen and shared throughout the community. 

There have also been memorable moments. The menu has varied significantly over the months, with cereal, fruit, muffins, and cut-up hotdogs all making an appearance. It has been a chance to try something new. One child had oatmeal for the first time and discovered she loves it, while a senior got to try her very first fruit smoothie. Celestine proposed a special breakfast during Advent, where she and volunteers made pancakes for around 30 members of the community.

The greatest challenge on a weekly basis has been the timing of Breakfast Club. Before Christmas there were several weeks where Breakfast Club and Children’s Church had over a 30-minute overlap, which was more than a little chaotic for this community of faith in the townships.

The support team met in February to discuss the issue and made plans to choose a firm end time for the program. That way those putting on breakfast can also participate in the worship service, and the transition to Children’s Church, which is held in the same space, would be clearer.

This initiative arrived along with a whole variety of dreams. There is a desire to link Breakfast Club with other social and educational groups and projects in the community of faith. There is a hope to open the program up to the neighbourhood more widely, which needs to be balanced with the capacity of volunteers and staff. There are plenty of ways the impact of this program could be deepened, and the Support Team continues to explore what the next chapter might look like.

As Shanna Bernier, who co-planned the initiative, puts it: “a project like this might not work the way one envisions, but that doesn’t make it a failure. We hope we can continue this project into future years. At the moment, we can say with confidence that we’re offering a young adult a good part-time job, feeding families every week, saving food from being wasted, and partnering with local small businesses. We are making times for joy and fun at church. Those are all great accomplishments, and there is so much potential for more!”

—Shanna Bernier is Program Support Minister for Youth and Young Adults, Nakonha:ka Regional Council, and Rev. Tori Mullin is Growth Animator for Eastern Ontario and Quebec with The United Church of Canada General Council Office.

The views contained within these blogs are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of The United Church of Canada.