About Pies For People

For the past 9 years, my wife (Stephanie) and I (Brandon) have organized a fundraiser supporting the soup kitchen at St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Every year we have been making and selling homestyle savoury pot pies to family, friends, coworkers, and the community.

To give you a bit of history as to why we do this, several years ago, I decided that I needed to start volunteering, and after a bit of searching, I ended up at the soup kitchen at St. John’s Mission. I enjoyed my time there, and it was so easy to see the heart and dedication that each person gave when they showed up. It was quickly apparent to me how important the Mission was to the community and how vital it was to help sustain it. A short time later, I ended up moving to the other side of the city, and after a few months, I realized that I had let my life get too busy, and I was no longer volunteering as often as I wanted to. However, I still wanted to help and decided to find another way. I have a background in culinary and had worked in the restaurant industry for years, so it made sense that something I was going to do would involve food. Since the purpose of the soup kitchen is to make sure people have a good meal and feel warm inside, I thought what better represents that than homestyle potpies, quickly an idea was born.   

That first year I was hoping to sell about 30 pies to friends and coworkers with hopes of raising $300.00, but after all was said and done, I sold over 80 pies and raised $1,000.00. That first year Stephanie and I had just met, but she supported me right away and asked if she could help by purchasing a few pies. She told her parents, and they too bought a few more as well. This was a good indication of the charity that Steph and her entire family believed in. 

By the time the 2018 campaign rolled around, Steph and I were well into our relationship, and we decided to take on the fundraiser together. For a little back story on Stephanie, Steph and her family have been deeply involved in competitive curling for pretty much her entire life. Currently, her team is pursuing a chance to play at the Canadian Olympic qualifier while still putting in many hours on PfP. Her mom is the team's coach and the general manager of the Dixie Curling Club, where the team practices. When her mom heard about the initiative, she suggested that we use the catering kitchen at the Dixie Curling club to have a professional kitchen to work out of. If it wasn’t for that thoughtful gesture, PfP might not be where we are today. Mainly because our participation has grown in leaps and bounds each year, and without support like the Dixie Curling Club, keeping up with demand would be impossible.    

PfP has turned into a beautiful mix of family and friends coming together to help and support the Mission. Unfortunately, last year because of Covid, we couldn’t accept much of the help offered, and we were staring at our biggest year yet; over 400 pies. So as Steph and I started working on a plan for accomplishing this monumental task, her family again came out to support us. Parents, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins helped us in whatever way they could, and if it wasn’t for them, I am not sure what we would have done. 

Mainly because of last year's success, we knew that we would need professional help when it came time to make our pies. Enter Sharman’s Proper Pies. I went to meet with James and Toni with a lot of hope in my heart that we would be able to work something out that could help us move PfP forward, and within two mins of talking to them, I knew that we had the perfect partners. Not only are they part of the community that we are supporting, or the fact that their pies are incredible or that they are a local business who was brave enough to open during Covid, most importantly, they are beautiful people that instantly saw the importance of St. John the Compassionate Mission, the services they offer and how important it is to support them!  

Last year (2023) was another successful year, and in total to date, we have been able to donate over $20,000.00 to The Mission. This year we are happy to do it again with the hopes of raising even more. Again, this year has been challenging for so many people, and with all the uncertainty and stresses families face, places like the St. John Mission have become even more critical. Steph and I feel so very fortunate; we both have jobs that have continued throughout the pandemic, we have a great family and a great support system, and most of all, we have each other. We know not everyone is in the same situation, which is why it is so essential for us to give back and help others. For Steph and I helping the Mission this year (and every year) honestly feels like the most important thing we will do.