December 8, 2010 - The 24th annual CBC/Radio-Canada's Open House and Food Bank Day raised a record $444,680 for local food banks across B.C.

 

The day began on December 3rd at 5:30 am with CBC's The Early Edition kicking things off with special guests including George Stroumboulopoulos, host of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and Mayor Gregor Robertson who played tuba with business mogul Jim Pattison.

 

More than 5000 people toured the new Vancouver Broadcast Centre and interacted with hosts and reporters from CBC and Radio-Canada, toured the state-of-the-art integrated news room, radio studios for English and French productions, and tried their hand at being a news anchor in CBC's Studio 60. The evening ended on a high note with a free concert by Barney Bentall and The Grand Cariboo Opry.
 
"Once again, the community came out in full force," said Johnny Michel, managing director of CBC British Columbia. "Together, we raised much needed funds for some of British Columbia's most needy. This year, we had some incredible support from our network personalities who joined our local hosts and reporters for this fantastic event."

 

The National's chief correspondent, Peter Mansbridge, CBC Radio's Jian Ghomeshi, CBC TV's George Stroumboulopoulos and Jim Treliving joined forces with local personalities such as Tony Parsons and Gloria Macarenko, Claire Martin, Shane Foxman and Stephen Quinn for this full day of activity and fundraising.

 

Activity on twitter was strong with the designated event hashtag #cbcopenhouse trending in Canada for most of the day.

 

More than just a traditional broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada is a content company, the home of Canadian programming and a multimedia leader with a solid presence in every region. One of the country's largest cultural institutions, the Corporation delivers its various services to all Canadians on platforms ranging from radio, television and the Web, to satellite radio and digital audio.

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For more information, and photos, please contact:
Asifa Lalji, APR         
CBC English Communications   
Ph: 604.662.6464   

Email: asifa.lalji@cbc.ca 
Twitter: @CBCVancouver