Nearly 250 people dined above the waters of the Bow River early Saturday morning during the inaugural Peace Bridge breakfast benefiting the Calgary Military Family Resource Centre.
The breakfast, which coincided with the summer solstice, was organized by George Brookman and W. Brett Wilson and including flyovers by vintage warplanes from the First World War and the Second World War.
The Calgary Military Family Resource Centre is a non-profit organization which provides services to members of the Canadian Forces and their families.
"The cause is huge,” explains Wilson. “One of the problems we often have is the families of our serving military members are out of sight, and when you're out of sight, you're out of mind.”
“What we’re doing here today is bringing everything back in sight.”
“The money raised here today is going to help support the men and women who have suffered injury, who’ve had trauma, whose family has been impacted negatively,” said former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier. “The need is great and it’s being helped being met by what is occurring here today. It’s incredible!”
Organizers hoped to raise more than $200,000 at the sold-out event.
