Hearing from two prominent members of the community and avid social media users, Crossfit Lacombe played host to the 14th Social Media Breakfast Lacombe Wednesday morning.

Owner of Cilantro & Chive Rieley Kay along with kindergarten teacher at Father Lacombe Catholic School Laurie McIntosh, both talked about how using social media can be useful for making connections globally, as well as between members of your own community.

McIntosh says her students get a better idea of how a community works thanks to the power of social media.

“Knowing what a food bank is and where it’s located so every time we pass the foodbank on a Kindness Capes walk, the kids are all screaming and excited because they go, ‘oh there’s the foodbank!’ and we know how to help them. So it’s kind of about knowing where these places are, and knowing the people behind them as well and not just seeing them as a building…so that they can have that connection to their community.”

McIntosh frequently collaborates with local businesses on projects, and has even taken her class global with her Kindness Club that encourages acts of kindness by her students, which are then shared and promoted online.

She says it’s important to teach kids the positive ways to use social media in order to better connect them with their community, and care about the direction its heading.  

“It is about connecting to parents and students, but it’s also about making partnerships within your community and grounding your kids within the community so they have a connection, so as they grow they have these connections to businesses, they have these connections to organizations so they want to support them, and they want to take care of them, and they want to look out for them. So if we introduce them as young as we can, chances are further on in their lives they are going to want to take better care of their community.”

It was an emotional one, as McIntosh will be leaving her post at the school at the end of this year to move to Lethbridge in order to be closer to family, and members of the audience thanked her for all the good work she's done in the community.

Cilantro and Chive meanwhile, has been able to raise more than $30,000 since last February from their Burger of the Month promotion, where they team up with local organizations to customize a burger, with $2 from the sale going to charity of the collaborators choice.

Weather permitting, the next Social Media Breakfast will be on July 4th, on the Echo Energy stage.