Middleton Foodland wins contest, give money to local causes

When staff and customers at Foodland in Middleton sang a song in late November, they raised $5,000 and ended up helping 10 great causes in the area.

Sobeys introduced the contest late last year, encouraging participating stores to invite customers and community groups to their stores to film them singing the Sobeys Star of Christmas song.

Tanya Knickle, Foodland owner in Middleton, took up the challenge with help from staff and a many community members who rehearsed the song twice in front of local shoppers and then recorded it on video to enter the contest.

“We had so much fun making the video,” said Knickle. “Staff members were involved and excited, and when we invited the community to join us for the filming on Nov. 25 the response was overwhelming. So many people came and joined us for free soup, samples, cookies, decorating, and, of course, for the filming of the video.”

Once completed, videos were uploaded to a website and voting took place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 13. Everyone could vote once per device per day.

“The community support was amazing,” Knickle said. “People were sharing on social media and really getting into the spirit. It was a close race with St. Peter’s, but we ended up ahead with well over 4,000 votes.”

The intent of the contest was for the winner to use the money to help their community. Knickle had a plan for that.

“Once the winners were announced we were so pleased that we won the $5,000 for our community,” she said. “Of course we have such great supporters and so many deserving groups it was impossible to choose just one. We decided to split the money and give 10 groups $500 each. While we still couldn’t give to everyone, we knew the ones we chose could do a lot of good with the prizes.”

The Winners

While Foodland won the contest, the real winner was the community. In the end, Middleton Foodland gave $500 to each of the following groups or programs: -- Middleton and District Daycare -- Middleton Lions Club -- Lawrencetown United Baptist Church

-- Middleton Baptist Church -- Emmanuel Church -- Middleton Arena

-- Middleton Fireflies

-- MRHS Hot Lunch Program -- AEES Breakfast Program -- Companion Animal Protection Society

“Overall it was a great experience and we are so proud to be a part of this great community,” said Knickle.