Spark Soirée provides 18,000 reasons ONFE's School Breakfast Program matters

From left, Anna Melnyk, Olivia Melnyk, Jacqueline Belsito, Evan Bell and Tamy Bell at ONFE’s Spark Soirée, where the Senators Community Foundation announced a $100,000 gift to ONFE's School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Spark Soirée provides 18,000 reasons ONFE’s School Breakfast Program matters

Published On: May 7, 2026By Caroline Phillips

For Sens fans, think of a packed Canadian Tire Centre on game night, with every seat filled.

That’s 18,000 people — about the same number of children who rely on the Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE)’s School Breakfast Program to get them through the day.

Seeing the number on paper is one thing. Picturing a sold-out hockey arena filled not with jerseys and cheering fans, but with hungry children, is quite another.

“That’s the scale of the need, and it’s growing,” ONFE president and CEO Heather Norris told 300 corporate sponsors and supporters at the sold-out Spark Soirée, which raised a net total of $100,000 after returning Wednesday to Infinity Convention Centre.

ONFE works with 232 schools across Ottawa to make sure students get a proper meal before they start learning. “For some students, it’s the most nutritious meal they will have all day,” said Norris.

The program also sends a powerful message to every student who walks through the school doors, she added. “Your community sees you, your community believes in you, your community is here for you.”

The fundraiser saw TAAG, a 2025 recipient of an Ottawa Philanthropy Award, return for its fourth year as presenting sponsor. It was represented at the gala by its chief operating officer, Bill Ayyad.

Guests were welcomed into the cocktail reception by a live performance from OrKidstra. They were served a breakfast-inspired dinner in keeping with the evening’s theme, and later went home with maple leaf-shaped bottles of maple syrup from TAAG as a parting gift.

Bill Ayyad, chief operating officer of presenting sponsor TAAG, and ONFE president and CEO Heather Norris at the Spark Soirée held in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Also returning to emcee were Sam Laprade, host of An Hour to Give, and Jamie Scott, a bilingual business student in uOttawa’s Telfer School of Management program.

At the gala, Senators Community Foundation president Jacqueline Belsito announced a seperate $100,000 gift to the School Breakfast Program. She was joined at the dinner by sisters Anna Melnyk and Olivia Melnyk, the latter a foundation board member. Their late father, Eugene Melnyk, was former owner of the Ottawa Senators. They travelled up from Toronto just to attend.

“It’s important to us, and it’s important to the foundation as well,” said Anna, who, along with her sister, has seen the School Breakfast Program in action. She said they were impressed by how it’s run. “They greet all the kids with a smile, and everyone gets a nice meal to start the day. We’re just super grateful to be able to support that.”

The Senators Community Foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the Ottawa Senators, also offered to match up to $10,000 in donations. Over the past hockey season, it has invested $2.5 million into the Ottawa-Gatineau community, supporting 40 local charities.

From left, Anna Melnyk, Mitch Miller (director of advancement for ONFE) with his daughter, second-year University of Toronto law student Haley Miller, Ottawa Senators Foundation board member Olivia Melnyk, volunteer co-chairs Jonathan Gilman (Ottawa Interlock Repair) and Dalia Feldberg (Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network) at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Supt. Mazen Dikah of the Ottawa Police Service shared how the School Breakfast Program supported him when he was a student-athlete at former Laurentian High School, now demolished and replaced by a Walmart site.

As a police officer, he sees its broader impact. “In policing, we often meet young people later, when challenges have escalated, opportunities have narrowed and the system is reacting.

“What ONFE does is fundamentally different. You are working upstream. You ensure that young people have what they need to succeed before they come into contact with systems like the law.

“I can tell you, both from personal experience and a professional perspective, that matters more than most people think. Something as simple as the breakfast program is never just about food. It’s about showing up ready to learn, feeling that someone cares and having a fair chance to succeed.”

Supt. Mazen Dikah of the Ottawa Police Service was a guest speaker at the Spark Soirée held in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Rachelle Shea, a realtor with Re/Max Absolute Walker Realty, also shared via video how the program made her feel supported growing up. “Children need that today. We don’t know what’s going on at home behind closed doors. We don’t know the whole situation,” she said. “So any bit that we can do to help these little ones get a head start is an incredible gift.

“Having breakfast at school made things so much easier for me,” Shea said of her own experience. “And now being in a position to help, it means the world to me.”

The evening featured games and prizes, including two WestJet tickets won by Melanie Albert, who attended with Steve Wilson of Escape Manor. One of Wilson’s business partners is Neil Schwartz, who sits on the ONFE board and is also a partner at Mann Lawyers.

Other board members spotted at the gala included chair Julie Beauchamp, senior vice-president academic at Algonquin College, and treasurer Sarwar Qureshi, a chartered accountant and partner at Paterson & Company. Board member Drew McMillan, president of Ages Group of Companies, attended with Stuart Ages at the Paramount Properties table.

There were also young business leaders in the crowd, including Dalia Feldberg, financial advisor with Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network, and Jonathan Gilman, business owner at Interlock Repair. He successfully balanced the evening with celebrating his daughter’s first birthday.

Guests were given pompoms to wave during the live auction. Tamy Bell was the highest bidder on the tickets to the Ed Sheeran concert in Toronto this summer. Bell and her husband, Lincoln Heights Ford dealer principal Evan Ford, were hosted by the Senators Community Foundation. Big concert fans, the couple plan to take their tween daughter Abby to the show.

The couple are also 2025 recipients of an Ottawa Philanthropy Award, recognized for their fundraising efforts for CHEO while their little boy, Griffin, bravely battled cancer, and in honour of his memory after.

Also seen shaking their pompoms with varying degrees of enthusiasm were Jack Larabie (Jack Larabie Distribution), Dave Ross (Fitness Depot), and Soula Burrell (Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association) for experiential packages that included a Mont Tremblant stay and a Senators home game in the owner’s suite, hosted by the Melnyk sisters. It sold to the two top bidders: Larabie and Ross.

It proved to be the ultimate school-night gala: cocktails, fundraising and everyone home by bedtime.

Tamy Bell, seated at the Senators Community Foundation table, was the highest bidder on a pair of tickets to the upcoming Ed Sheeran concert in Toronto at the Spark Soirée in support of the ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, ONFE board member Neil Schwartz, who’s also a partner at Mann Lawyers and of Escape Manor, with his wife, Caitlin Schwartz, Brittni Jones, Chris Bisson (Escape Manor), Melanie Albert and Steve Wilson (Escape Manor) at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Infinity Convention Centre executive Lee Knowles with Stuart Ages, principal at Paramount Properties, and Drew McMillan, president of Ages Group of Companies and a board member with ONFE (Ottawa Network for Education) at its Spark Soirée in support of the School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Soula Burrell, who’s in charge of business development and membership at Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association, helped drive up the live auction bids on a Senators game day in the owner’s suite. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, broadcaster Sam Laprade, host of An Hour to Give on Rogers TV, and her co-emcee uOttawa Telfer School of Management student Jamie Scott, at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Kamal Chamseddine (BMO), Sarwar Qureshi (ONFE board member, Paterson & Company) and Philip Brock (BMO Nesbitt Burns) at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Anna Melnyk and her sister Olivia Melnyk, who’s on the board of the Senators Community Foundation, travelled from Toronto to attend ONFE’s Spark Soirée in support of its School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Yasser Ghazi, vice president of commercial financial services at RBC, and Christine Vieceli, financial wellness manager and investment advisor at Your Credit Union, at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

OrKidstra performed live during the cocktail reception at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Ottawa Titans Field of Dreams Foundation board member Derick Fage, supervising producer at CTV Your Morning, and his wife Monika Palitza-Fage alongside fellow board member and assistant deputy minister Jeannine Ritchot and James Scarrow, and lawyer Jacques Shore, founding president of Field of Dreams Foundation, and his wife, Dr. Donna Shore, at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Melanie Albert won the WestJet tickets at the Spark Soirée, held Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at Infinity Convention Centre. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Realtor Rachelle Shea, with Geoff Walker from RE/MAX Absolute Walker Realty, at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Ottawa Police Service Superintendent Mazen Dikah was a guest speaker at the Spark Soirée held in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From right, Brazeau Seller Law partner Harold Feder and wife Nancy Walkington with daughter Emma Holmes, a teacher at Regina Street Alternative, and her boyfriend, James Hobson, at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Heather Norris, president and CEO of ONFE, with ONFE’s director of advancement, Mitch Miller, and Tracy Noble-Botting, director of marketing and communications at ONFE, at their signature gala, Spark Soirée, in support of their School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Joshua Shaw, director of strategy and development at the Ottawa Humane Society, and Colin Noble, investment advisor and associate portfolio manager at TD Wealth, at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From Algonquin College, left to right, Tracy McDougall, college president and CEO Claude Brulé, ONFE board chair Julie Beauchamp, Matt Moore (academic chair, CAPA), Cory Haskins, dean of the school of business and hospitality, Rodney Walsh (chair of community studies) and Mary Grammatikakis at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Dave Ross from Fitness Depot was one of the highest bidders on a Senators game day for six in the owner’s suite, hosted by Anna and Olivia Melnyk. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, the Ottawa Business Club’s Billy Donovan (Royal Lepage Performance Realty) and Conrad Dickinson (Prime Benefits Group) in conversation with Miranda Westendorp (Ottawa Public Health) and Jonah Trevor-Deutsch (Maple and Moonshine Country Music Festival) at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Tim Tierney, councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrille, and his wife, Jenny Tierney, were out supporting the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Sami Khudair (ConnectWise), Mohammad Kanani (partner at Lekadir LLP), Shirin Aladwan (Scotiabank) and real estate agent Fady Khudair at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Perennial attendee Jack Larabie of Jack Larabie Distribution is always an active participant of the live auction at the Spark Soirée for ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Tammie Trellert, candidate for city councillor for Orléans East-Cumberland, Jesika Arseneau (Forge & Haven, Carrie Irvine Communications), Soula Burrell (Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association) and Nesrine Taylor (RBC) at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Tanya Sealey (Key Wealth Partners) and Jessy Gill-Bal, who was the highest bidder on the Mont Tremblant experience during the Spark Soirée live auction. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Ottawa Catholic School Board trustees, from left, Spencer Warren, Joanne MacEwan, Cindy Simpson and Scott Phelan at the Spark Soirée in support of ONFE’s School Breakfast Program. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Guests at the Sparks Soirée went home with maple leaf-shaped bottles of maple syrup, courtesy of professional services firm and presenting sponsor TAAG. Photo by Caroline Phillips

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WEALTH (WCPD), Syntax Strategic, RBC, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law and Prime Benefits Group.
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