A Message from the Chair and Carmichael Outreach

A Message from the Chair of Play with Your Food

It brings me incredible joy to look out at this wonderful community – a community that feels, in the best possible way, like the world’s greatest board game. One built on teamwork, strategy, laughter, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. And the truth is: every single one of you helped build it. This season, our PwYF teams showed up with creativity, generosity, and the kind of competitive spirit that would make even the most seasoned Settlers of Catan player nervous. You rolled with every challenge. You levelled up your fundraising. You brought joy into every space you touched. You didn’t just play the game – you changed it.

To our volunteers: you are the ones quietly keeping the rulebook intact while the rest of us gleefully go off‑script. You organize, you support, you troubleshoot, and you do it all with grace. You’re the reason this whole thing doesn’t turn into a real‑life round of Pandemic. Thank you for being the steady hands behind the scenes, none of this could be accomplished without you.

To our sponsors: thank you for investing in this community and believing in what PwYF makes possible. Your support ensures that the impact of this event reaches far beyond tonight. You help create a community where everyone – especially our most vulnerable neighbours – has a chance to draw a better card, take a stronger turn, and feel like they belong at the table.

PwYF isn’t just a fundraising campaign. It’s a gathering place. A spark. A reminder that joy, generosity, and a little friendly competition can create real change. The impact of this work reaches families facing food insecurity. It reaches people who are isolated or struggling.

It reaches those who need to know that their community sees them, values them, and is willing to show up for them. When we raise funds, we’re not just supporting programs – we’re supporting dignity, connection, and hope.

And we’re also strengthening the community right here in this room – one that is vibrant, caring, inclusive, and resilient. A community that knows when to take the lead, when to pass the turn, and when to team up for something bigger than ourselves. A community that proves, year after year, that when we come together with purpose and heart, we can change the board entirely. As we celebrate another incredible PwYF campaign, I want to offer my deepest gratitude.

Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your commitment. Thank you for showing that when people gather around a table – whether it’s for a meal, a meeting, or a marathon game of any epic favourite – magic happens. Here’s to the meals shared, the friendships formed, the funds raised, and the lives touched and to this community – the one we’ve built, the one we cherish, and the one we continue to grow.

From the very bottom of my heart, thank you.

Chelsea Steenbock, Chair, PwYF 2026

Why we do what we do : A Message from Carmichael Outreach

I want to begin with a simple, but important reminder to reflect on. That reminder is that every person has a story. Each and every one of us is shaped by our childhoods, our experiences, our struggles, and the support – or lack of support – that we receive along the way. For some of us, life offers stability, safety, and opportunity. But for others, their stories are shaped by trauma, poverty, lack of supports, systemic barriers, and isolation.

Beyond all of our programs and services, what truly defines Carmichael Outreach is how we can come together as a community to show up for the people who need us every single day. This community includes all of you involved in Play with Your Food. The committee, the sponsors, the volunteers, all of your friends and family who donated, and each and every single person who has joined a team to take part in fundraising for Play with Your Food. You are all a part of our Carmichael Community and we are tremendously grateful for you. This community shows up with compassion, even when it’s hard. It shows up with patience, even when progress is slow. And it shows up with respect and dignity, even when the world has shown someone very little of it.

I want you to take a moment and imagine what it might feel like to not know where you’re going to sleep at night. To carry everything you own with you. To feel judged or dismissed when you try to ask for help. To be invisible and get ignored, shunned, or turned away as though your presence alone is a nuisance. Or to navigate addiction, mental health challenges, or violence alone.

For many of the individuals we serve, this isn’t something to imagine – it’s their everyday reality.

And that’s why Carmichael Outreach exists. As you all likely know, Carmichael Outreach is a Regina-based charity that provides low-barrier, non-judgmental support to people in our community who are facing poverty and hardship. Our goal is not to “fix” people, but to support them: To walk alongside them as they navigate incredibly complex circumstances.

Thank you for being part of our community and for being community champions that actually have the ability to drive change. Thank you for showing people compassion, warmth, dignity, and support. Your fundraising directly helps someone begin their life again and if I could share a message from them: thank you – truly.

On behalf of everyone at Carmichael Outreach, thank you. We could not have the same level of impact without each and every one of you here and we are so grateful for you all. Words cannot express the amount of gratitude we feel to have you in our community.

Janis Miller, Director of Development, Carmichael Outreach