Coffee Breakfast

Speaker Danny Papadatos (2nd from l) with SaskTel's Kris Magnus (l); Jodine Smith (2nd from r) and Deb Ottenbreit at the 2014 Being there for kids breakfast in Regina

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That saying took on a double meaning recently as SaskTel helped to sponsor the 2014 Being There for Kids Breakfast!

The breakfast event, which was held bright and early on 13 Jun 2014 at the Delta Hotel in Regina, is a major fundraiser for Kids Help Phone (KHP).

“We have supported KHP and this event for a number of years, ” said Kris Magnus, Communications Manager – Community Relations. “It’s a high profile breakfast gathering which brings people from the local business community together to bring attention to a cause that is important to our company.”

SaskTel’s support of KHP goes back to 1998, when the organization first set up an office in Saskatchewan.

“Within the guidelines of SaskTel's sponsorship program, one of the areas of focus is supporting the youth of our province, ” Kris said. “KHP is certainly an important organization for the well-being of Saskatchewan (& Canadian) youth.”

Kids Help Phone is the only service of its kind in Canada. The organization provides expertise in vital, innovative counseling services to children and youth. Kids Help Phone is available for children at any hour of the day or night and it’s anonymous and confidential.

One of the issues KHP has focused on recently is bullying, and that was the underlying theme for the guest speaker at this year’s breakfast. Danny Papadatos came out at a young age, faced discrimination, intolerance and ignorance as a youth.

He told the breakfast crowd the story of how he overcame and persevered to become the man he is today. Danny spoke about the struggles of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) youth and how through adversity and sickness, the power of conversation saved his life.