Local restaurant/catering company are hosting their annual gingerbread competition this year to help Kamloops families in need. 

By Paige Kidder

Catering company Uptown Chefs and restaurant ROMEOs Kitchen + Spirits is hosting their 6th annual Gingerbread House Competition to collect Christmas gifts/food donations for local families in need after a record year of food inflation. The competition is being displayed in the lobby of the Coast Hotel and Conference Centre from December 1 to 24 and viewers are encouraged to bring a gift, cash, and/or food donations to support the families in need at the Kamloops Food Bank. 

The vibrant gingerbread houses have become a beloved local Christmas display tradition that also has deep ties to supporting families in the community who need food and holiday gifts. This year has been hard on Canadian families as recent data from Statistics Canada shows food price increases have outpaced the rate of inflation, reaching an increase of 11.4% in September 2022.

Support for the Kamloops Food Bank is needed this time of year 

Annual data from last year shows that the Kamloops Food Bank supported 4,863 members of the community in 2021, 1,267 of those individuals being under the age of 17. Additionally, a recent article from CTV News revealed that Food Bank Canada’s 2022 report showed record breaking food bank visits this year, with a 25 per cent increase of visits in BC. According to this article, one of the top reasons for food bank visits in 2022 was food costs.  

Youth poverty and food insecurity are ongoing issues in the community and province, as 2019 data from the 2021 BC Child Poverty Report Card revealed that 18 per cent of the province’s children and youth were living in deep poverty. These experiences are exacerbated over the holiday season when children facing poverty may observe their more fortunate peers receiving gifts and experiencing an abundance of warm meals. The organizer of the event and general manager of Uptown Chefs Catering, Nicole St. Godard, noted that this element is why the event has supported the Kamloops Food Bank since its beginning in 2017. 

“I wanted to give away Christmas gifts for families in need the first year,” St. Godard revealed. “I felt that we could help and support in that way. I was looking for somewhere we could volunteer as a company, somewhere that would be impactful to ensure that kids in the community all get a gift under the tree.”

In addition to encouraging viewers of the competition to donate, Uptown Chefs Catering also donates $10 for every gingerbread house entered in the competition towards holiday gifts for those in need. According to St. Godard, the competition received 32 entries this year, which is a decline compared to previous years but is more manageable for her and her team. 

Aside from cash donations, the team at both Uptown Chefs and ROMEOs will be volunteering at the food bank to help deliver the donations from the competition to local families. 

“My goal for this year was to get the staff back to volunteer at the actual food bank,” St. Godard said. “I really wanted them, the managers of each department, to get as many staff members as they could to come out to the actual volunteer portion.” 

Local kids helping other local kids have access to holiday gifts and food.

The competition mainly caters to kids, although there is an “Individuals” category for families and adults as well. St. Godard explained how the competition started in 2017, taking inspiration from the extravagant gingerbread house displays at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Vancouver, where the company’s head chef, Romeo Oloresisimo, is from. 

“These massive fancy gingerbread houses [in Vancouver] were really cool to see and fun for families.” St. Godard said. “So, I took that idea and ran with it, but I targeted it towards kids as opposed to professional bakers. I was excited to see what kids could come up with.” 

Since then, most of the competition’s entries have come from kids and elementary schools. St. Godard described that this year’s competition saw the largest number of entries come from local elementary schools with 17 entries in the “Elementary” category, followed by 9 in “Individual” and 8 in “Under 5.”  

“Our elementary school entries in particular [are] definitely repeat people.” St. Godard commented. “I recognize the names from years before. Beattie Elementary School especially participates every year and they put multiple gingerbread houses in, which I think is just amazing.”

There are also prizes to be won for each category after voting ends on Christmas Eve. St. Godard shared that the prize for the “Under 5” category will be a subscription to KiwiCo, a kids’ learning box that comes monthly for a year. The other two categories’ prizes have yet to be decided, although prize ideas that also integrate community support have been considered. 

“We’ve been tossing around the idea of shopping locally this year for the other two categories.” St. Godard added. “We’re trying to keep it as local as possible.”

She also expressed that for local families looking to enjoy a festive event and give back to the community, the gingerbread house display is the perfect holiday festivity.

“It’s just a really good family outing to come out and take a look at the gingerbread houses.” She said. “We’re really looking for people to come over and bring some Christmas gift donations for kids and donations to the food bank.”

The Kamloops Food Bank also accepts online donations on their website. 

Check it out: https://youtube.com/shorts/12FAuUBoADY?feature=share