Highlights from the 2018 Feats of Gingerbread Challenge

With the rich and luscious smell of gingerbread now gently wafting away from our memories, we decided to take a look back at some of the highlights that made our first ever Feats of Gingerbread Holiday Challenge such a joy.

Engineers Canada’s affinity partners join in the fun

It’s the connections that matter. Engineers Canada’s affinity partners TD Insurance, Great-West Life, AON, and HUB international were among the first on board for the challenge. Their delectable delights gave us a wonderful taste of what was to come.

Structural testing of gingerbread as a building material

Two engineering firms—SBSA and LEA Consulting—took things to the next level (literally), pushing the boundaries of gingerbread as a construction material through a series of rigorous stress tests and the application of engineering principles to advanced gingerbread design.

It’s time to get social!

Once they started baking and creating, challengers wanted to share their stories and get others excited about their plans. Teams took it to the web, sharing their stories and progress through Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn under the hashtag #FeatsOfGingerbread.

“It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to make gingerbread.”

The entry from the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering definitely didn’t have anything to do with a certain set of books about a beloved young British wizard, nor does the cryptic allusion in this paragraph’s heading….

Engineers Canada says, “Hi neighbor!”

With the engineering marvel of the Parliament buildings just a couple of blocks away from our offices, they were the natural choice for our entry into the challenge. Members of our team delighted in the design, baking, icing, and decoration of our feat, and folks across the entire organization enjoyed seeing the masterpiece unfold.

Feats of Gingerbread makes the news… and the mall!

The Yellowknife community rallied around the The Northern Gingerbread(wo)men in a big way, so much so that the CBC and other local news outlets were feeling the buzz. The team’s entry itself, entitled “Christmas at the Treeline” was proudly displayed at the Center Square Mall in Yellowknife, so everyone could come out and marvel at its beauty.

It comes down to the wire…

The nearer we got to the voting deadline, the more things heated up. In the end it came down to a very close race between The Northern Gingerbread (Wo)men and SBSA Structural Consultants. Both of these teams went above and beyond both and the excitement they generated within their teams and communities and the amount of funds they were able to commit—$5200 and $4900 respectively!

And the winner is…

Everyone! The Northern Gingerbread(wo)men did a fantastic job of rallying their community to capture 717 votes and take the crown, and we were so pleased to match their contribution of $5201 to Food Rescue Yellowknife for a total of $10,402.

However, we’d be remiss if we failed to highlight that the other teams also raised a combined total of nearly $10,000 for charities across the country. We were so pleased to see Canada’s Engineering community for a variety of causes, so well done all!

Here are all of the charities that received donations through the Feats of Gingerbread challenge:

• Ottawa Food Bank (Aon)
• Live, Work, Play (Engineers Canada)
• SickKids Foundation (HUB International Ontario)
• 360ºKids (LEA Consulting Ltd)
• UNICEF Canada (Ontario Network of Women in Engineering)
• Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal (SBSA Structural Consultants)
• The United Way of Greater Toronto (TD Insurance)
• Breast Cancer Society of Canada (The Great-West Life Elves with “BENEFITS”)
• Food Rescue Yellowknife (The Northern Gingerbread(wo)men)