HALIFAX, May 24, 2012 – Olympic medalist Catriona Le May Doan visited Halifax on Thursday to support The Salvation Army at its inaugural Hope in the City Leadership Breakfast, presented by CIBC. The event drew a crowd of 200 to the Westin Nova Scotian’s Atlantic Ballroom, for a morning of networking, entertainment and education about the work The Salvation Army is doing throughout Halifax Regional Municipality.

A member of the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame, Ms. Le May Doan is a two-time gold medalist in speedskating, and was one of the final torchbearers at the Vancouver Olympics. She remains involved in the Olympic movement, and will be a member of the CTV broadcast team at the London Olympics in July.

During her address to the crowd of 200, Ms. Le May Doan stressed the importance of the work The Salvation Army does, not just at Christmas – its most visible time of the year.

“It’s so incredible to see people coming together,” she said to those gathered. “At Christmastime, obviously, it seems like our communities come closer together, but it’s those other 364 days that we know so many people need our support. So thank you for doing this for our community.”

The event also featured CTV news anchor Steve Murphy as emcee, and drew a crowd of business and community leaders, elected officials and youth.

The Hope in the City Leadership Breakfast, presented by CIBC, was made possible thanks to the support of sponsors CIBC, Investors Group, Scotiabank, C100 and Metro Halifax.

“We are excited about our first ever Hope in the City Leadership Breakfast,” says Major Doug Hefford, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army. “It’s been a great morning. With your support, you are helping us continue to provide the basic necessities of life – food, shelter and clothing – to those marginalized in our community.”

For the second straight year, The Salvation Army is recognizing May as Dignity Month across the country. During this month, we will highlight work from our ongoing Dignity Project – a national effort to educate and engage Canadians about the reality of poverty in the 21st Century. Approximately three million Canadians – or one in 11 people – live in poverty.