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Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects celebrates 25 years of fundraising

Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects is celebrating its 25th anniversary of fundraising this year and a $5 donation can help Canadian children.

August 31, 2015

Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It partners with organizations that help kids reach their full potential, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, JDRF, Kids Help Phone, Live Different and the Rick Hansen Foundation. And what better way to celebrate than to continue its longtime charity fundraising efforts.

"It’s amazing to think that in the 25 years since the launch of the Boston Pizza Foundation, more than $20 million has been raised and donated to charities in communities across Canada and around the world," Boston Pizza Foundation Executive Director Cheryl Treliving said in a company release. "This year, our goal is to raise more than $730,000 with the Kids Cards program. We are grateful to all of our guests across Canada for their ongoing support and donations."

For a minimum $5 donation to Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects, guests receive a Kids Card, which can be redeemed for five free kids meals, according to a company press release. Each donation assists children across Canada through the work the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects and its partners perform in helping kids access role models and mentors, the release stated.The fundraiser has generated over $3.8 million in donations since it began in 2006.

"It’s a busy time of year for families who are looking for a fun place to eat with delicious food at a good value, and the Kids Cards program delivers on all of these fronts," Steve Silverstone, executive VP of marketing for Boston Pizza said in the release. "Kids Cards are also a great way to support mentoring and role modeling programs as all $5 goes directly to the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects."

Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects has helped to extend and expand Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mentoring services into new communities and to youth who previously had no access to mentoring; funded the development of an artificial pancreas and the youth ambassador program through JDRF Canada, which provides mentorship to young people living with type 1 diabetes; allowed Kids Help Phone to add adult tools and resources and youth online content to their website; helped Live Different to inspire over a million students in Canada; and allowed the Rick Hansen Foundation to reach more youth so that more than 500,000 students across the country each year can learn about inclusion for people with disabilities.

Boston Pizza Kids Cards are available for purchase in store and online from Aug. 31 to Oct. 11. As an extra bonus, guests can register their Kids Card on their MyBP account to receive a sixth free kids meal, the release stated.