A new restaurant opened in downtown Brandon recently. Located inside the old Chicken Delight building, Bong Bong Chef (1113 Rosser Ave) features both a lunch and dinner buffet. The inside of the restaurant underwent a major 3-month facelift and includes an expanded Chinese food menu as well as some North American favorites. The licensed restaurant is open 7 days a week for dine in, takeout, and delivery service. The lunch buffet is available daily from 11:30am-3pm while the supper buffet runs from 4pm-8pm. You can also order individual items as well.

Mums Family Restaurant is under new ownership, as of July 1, 2023. A notice posted inside the restaurant indicates that Tom Price (Chopped Leaf, Booster Juice) would taking over the operations of the restaurant. For the past 16 years the restaurant has been under the control of the Johnston family. Mums Family Restaurant has something for everyone, from breakfast favourites to soups and salads, sandwiches and wraps, homemade burgers, a full kid's menu, and more. Located at 505 24th St, the restaurant is open daily from 7am-7pm.

McCain Foods will be hosting a Free Fry Day Event in Brandon to raise money for Ronald McDonald House. The drive thru event takes place on Thursday, July 6th at the Keystone Centre parking lot. To receive your free McCain Foods (Canada) product and ketchup from Heritage Co-op, stop by the Keystone Centre parking lot and help families with sick children by donating to RMHC Manitoba while you’re there! Brandon Keystone Centre #1 1175 18th St Thursday, July 6th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Park Community Centre in Brandon is one of 15 projects that have received a portion of $1 million as a 2023 recipient of Co-op Community Spaces, while also benefitting from Heritage Co-op’s local Community Development Fund programming. “We’re very excited to see the Park Community Centre receive these funds. Co-op is proud to support a fixture in Brandon and ensure the community has access to this space for years to come.” said Jessica Brady, Marketing and Communications Manager at Heritage Co-op, “Being locally invested is important to Heritage Co-op and our Members. Investing in our communities ensures we all have a vibrant place to live, work and play.” Park Community Centre will receive $85,000 towards a Commercial Co-op Kitchen through the Co-op Community Spaces program, and another $15,000 through Heritage Co-op’s Community Development Fund. Co-op Community Spaces is designed to help protect, beautify and improve spaces across Western Canada. Through the program, Co-op has provided $12.5 million to 175 projects since 2015 in three categories: recreation, environmental conservation and urban agriculture. FCL administers Community Spaces on behalf of more than 160 local Co-ops operating in 600 communities. Heritage Co-op’s Community Development Fund is available for building or renovation of spaces that support the betterment of the community. Community projects in the Heritage Co-op trading area are encouraged to apply. Learn more about the programs and recipients at communityspaces.ca and heritageco-op.crs

In 2022, Westoba announced an update to their Manitoba High School Bursary program to better align with Westoba’s cooperative principles and meet the needs of graduating students. “Westoba values and embraces a commitment to people, innovative thinking, learning, and knowledge,” said Jim Rediger, Westoba’s President and CEO. “We believe our scholarship program should align with these values and reward students who have demonstrated leadership within their school and have contributed in a positive way to making their school and community a better place.” Along with changes to the eligibility criteria, Westoba is allowing students to take some time on their post- secondary decisions and still be eligible for the scholarship or bursary funds. “Westoba recognizes driven, up-and-coming students who are ready to commit to building a better world,” said Rediger. “We also recognize that making decisions on their future education might take some time, and we are allowing that to happen.” Westoba will hold the Student Bursary funds in trust for the student for 12 months post-graduation to allow for enrollment or acceptance to a post-secondary institution of their choice. The Westoba Student Bursary Contest is available to all graduating Manitoba High School students through a electronic application submission process open from June 12 to June 30, 2023. The Westoba Student Bursary eligibility criteria and contest rules are available at westoba.com.