Heart healthy eating is the new black

In November 2009, my team (Pulse communications) and I held a charity event at Loblaw Cooking School. The event was called "Bringing Healthy Back", a play on Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" song. Our event featured a live cooking demo with Chef Martin Raymond. He presented our guests with a heart healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner that is easy, affordable and delicious. Through ticket sales, raffle tickets and online donations our team was able to exceed our objective and raise over $1000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The heart healthy menu included:

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with apples and cranberries
Lunch: Bulgar wheat salad with cranberries
Dinner: Herb crusted red snapper with a yogurt, lemon and dill sauce

Although it was a successful event, we did encounter a few bumps along the way. Here are some tips and lessons learned:

• Sponsorships: Start early and be prepared for rejections. It really helps if you know the sponsor personally. It's ok to call in a favour.
  
• Working staff: Be clear about your objectives and communicate your expectations with everyone prior to the event. This will ensure organization and professionalism.
  
• Venue: Always check out the venue with your team and never assume that the space will be clutter-free for set up. One hour prior to our event, we realized that we had no place to store our personal belongings. We had to be creative.
  
• Follow up: The constant emailing and phone calls with Martin, the coordinator and chef of Loblaws ensured that we met our deadlines. If they don't respond or answer their phone, continue to follow up until you get an answer.
  
• Every little detail counts: It shows that you have given your event a lot of thought and planning, and it definitely pays off. We included little note pads for our guests to write cook's notes during the demo. It wasn't a necessary item, but it definitely added a nice touch.
  
• Reactive PR: We were approached by the East York Observer and the Courier for a preview and a news story. We were definitely surprised because we did not have to pitch a story to anyone. Not to say that we did not plan on pitching to the media, but I guess our event was unique and never done before in the CCPR program.

Now onto the good stuff, our successes. The results are based on a survey which was completed near the end of our event.

• Attendance: 100%
• Satisfaction: 100% of our guests enjoyed the event
• Learning experience: 100% said they learned something from the cooking demo and nutrition presentation.
• Healthy eating and cooking: Almost all of our guests said they would try out the recipes and attempt a lifestyle change.

Did I mention that this my first event? What a great experience. Go Pulse Communications!

Here is a recipe for you to try out!

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with apples and cranberries



Ingredients:
1 cup steel cut oats
1 apple - gala (sliced)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup currants
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Bring 41/2 cups of water to a boil
Stir in oats and reduce the heat, let oats cook for 20 min at a light simmer
Stir in the fruit at the 20 min mark and remover from the heat
Cover and set aside for 15 min

*Tip from Chef Raymond: Make the steel cut oats in bulk and have it for breakfast throughout the week!