The Burnt Chef Project
Skål Restaurant Running Burger Fundraiser for Mental Health Awareness Month
Story and photos by Sidney Ulakovic
Thunder Bay diners are no stranger to foodie fundraisers, and luckily there’s still time to participate in one happening in honour of Mental Health Awareness Month at Skål Restaurant located in the Valhalla Hotel & Conference Centre.
This month, the Valhalla has partnered with The Burnt Chef Project (TBCP), a non-profit organization working to raise awareness, and provide support and education around mental health within the hospitality industry. “The ratio of how many people need mental health services within hospitality is really, really huge,” says Pete Middaugh, executive chef at the Valhalla Hotel and soon-to-be official ambassador for TBCP. “About 25% of everyone in hospitality has hit a point at some point where they feel that they need some sort of additional assistance with their mental health, because it can be a very challenging industry."
On the menu for this campaign is the Burnt Chef Burger, which Amy Chiapetta, area director of sales and marketing for Silver Hotel Group, says is a classic, Canadian-style burger. Diners can expect a juicy patty topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato and condiments served on the side as well as a choice of side and drink, with five dollars from each burger sold funding mental health resources for hospitality workers.
"Our goal is to sell 1200 burgers across our properties, so I think we're getting close to hitting that achievement, so we're really proud of that,” Chiapetta says. “But also really the main goal here is really just to spread awareness." Part of that mission to raise awareness included a video campaign where team members were encouraged to share what mental health means to them. “It kind of just opened everyone's eyes, like, ‘Oh, I'm not alone in this, like, you know, I feel the same thing,’" Chiapetta says.
Seeing the impact the campaign has made for the team so far, Chiapetta and Middaugh say they look forward to seeing TBCP grow. "In a perfect world, it would catch on, and more restaurants and hotels would take on this initiative as well to support this really great cause," Chiapetta says.
