In the short time since Food4Kids Halton took home the winning cheque in Woodbine Mohawk Park’s Breeders Crown Charity Challenge, the donation has already been put to work.

Represented in the Charity Challenge by Team Millar (owner Millar Farms and driver James MacDonald), Food4Kids Halton received a total donation of $95,000.

Jennifer Sully-Ferraro, Executive Director of Food4kids Halton, was out of the country for the cheque presentation at the 2025 Breeders Crown in October, but she was following along with excitement.

"I literally screamed; I couldn't believe it," said Sully-Ferraro. "For us, as a small grassroots agency, this is huge."

Spearheaded by prominent owner Marvin Katz, the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge began in 2019 and has annually raised funds within the racing community for charities in the Breeders Crown host surrounding area.

Each of this year’s four charities partnered with a leading owner and driver, whose performance on the racetrack (in addition to other metrics) helped determine the donation received. In addition to Food4Kids Halton, Kids Help Phone, Milton District Hospital Foundation and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre were also participants.

"I’ve seen how much money Marvin Katz and this challenge has raised over the past few years," commented George Millar of Millar Farms. "It’s substantial and I’m sure has helped a lot of people, so kudos to him, and I was pretty happy to be a part of it this year with Food4Kids Halton."

Food4Kids Halton partners with local public elementary schools to identify families facing food insecurity, then volunteers discretely provide children with bags of food to take home. In the summers, the organization supports families with grocery gift cards. As Sully-Ferraro shared, the need for this service remains strong.

"Our program continues to grow, which is unfortunate, because it means more kids in our community are facing food insecurity," said Sully-Ferraro. "Our big goal is to keep going without a wait list so that every time a school calls us, we can say yes to another child in need."

Despite the affluence in the area, an increase in poverty in the Halton Region is noticeable, according to Sully-Ferraro.

"Last school year, we saw an 18 per cent increase in the number of kids we were serving from the previous year, and we gave out 46,048 bags of food," said Sully-Ferraro. “Looking at the current year and how trends are going, we’re likely to see a similar increase this year."

Food4Kids Halton reminded owner Millar of another charity close to his heart.

"My daughter runs a charity in South Africa called the Protea Project that I donate to. It's all to do with feeding children and making sure they get health care and dental work," said Millar. "I’ve always supported organizations that help children. I was really surprised, at first, that kids here at home needed a food program."

Food4Kids Halton gives families experiencing unexpected circumstances a little extra help.

"We find people are on our program for an average of two years," explained Sully-Ferraro. "The majority of people we help would much rather be able to buy their own groceries. We're grateful to be there to support them in their time of need, and then we always celebrate when people exit the program because of financial stability. That's always the best."

There are 4,500 children in Ontario in a Food4Kids program, and over 1,200 of them are in Halton, making Food4Kids Halton one of the largest chapters. Funding comes directly from individuals and businesses in the community.

"We were just so blown away by all of you folks and the way you brought the community together. It's been a really special experience for all of us," said Sully-Ferraro.

The 2025 Breeders Crown Charity Challenge at Mohawk raised a total of $450,000 for local causes. Over $2.4 million has been donated since the initiative’s inception in 2019.

Katz has recently been recognised with Standardbred Canada's Cam Fella Award, a high industry honour, for his creation and leadership of the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge and its meaningful impact on the communities of Breeders Crown host tracks.

(Woodbine)