Majorie Agnew at The Main Course

Founded in 1984 as a store for serious cooks, The Main Course has grown and evolved into a store that now includes three main areas: kitchen, tableware and food preparation; textiles and linens; and a permanent bargain basement. With a  focus on becoming the specialty linen store in Canada, The Main Course carries linens that are not stocked by any other store in the country. Marjorie Agnew, the store's owner, travels the world searching for the best linens for her clientele.

The Main Course offers a bridal registry, decorator discounts, gift certificates and a five-day trial policy. The store has a prestigious reputation, and has become a top source of housewares and tableware for movie studio producers, editorial magazine layouts and television cooking shows.

In addition to travelling and running the store, Majorie also works with The PACT Youth Crime Reduction Program. PACT, a charity run by businessman David Lockett, was designed to reduce youth crime and decrease loads on the court system, through teaching young offenders to accept responsibility for their actions. PACT has been shown to cut the re-offence rate of young offenders by 90 per cent.

Marjorie had contributed to many community causes over the years but, in 2004, when her friend David Lockett asked her if she would be interested in combining her corporate values of giving back to the community with her passion for food, she was intrigued. Marjorie had donated money to PACT several years before, to support research, but David suggested another way to focus her donation - on a cooking school. As an entrepreneur with a philanthropic streak, when Marjorie found a cause that combined her love for food with her desire to help people, she had to get involved.

The Main Course donated the initial $10,000 to get the PACT Main Course Youth Crime Cooking School up and running, and Majorie is committed to the program going forward. It is not just a financial donation to Marjorie - she joins in with the classes and has also started getting her suppliers involved financially to help grow the PACT program. The PACT cooking programs run for six-weeks, and culminate with the students planning, shopping and cooking a meal for seniors. This pro-active environment allows youths to learn skills, undergo a positive identity change, build self-esteem and take on responsibility.

Majorie Agnew feels business leaders should use their "business acumen, experience, networks and influence to reach the elements of society that government policy programs do not reach - taking maximum strain off the public system. We hope to encourage other small businesses to engage in their community in a similar fashion."

For more information on PACT, visit their website at www.pactprogram.ca.
Click here for the store location of The Main Course.