Air Canada Foundation Golf Tournament nets over $1,000,000 in Support of Children's Charities Across Canada

MONTREAL, July 15, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - This year's Air Canada Foundation golf tournament netted $1,072,000 in support of organizations focused on health and wellbeing of children in Canada.  Now in its fourth year, the tournament was held Monday, July 13^th, at the Saint Raphaël Golf Club, Québec. The event featured 73 teams totaling 292 golfers from across North America. It included a full day of golf followed by dinner and silent and live auctions of items donated by tournament partners and Air Canada Foundation supporters.

Aimia returned as presenting sponsor of this year's event which was supported by more than 100 Canadian and international corporations and organizations. To view our major supporters, please visit: www.aircanada.com/foundation.

"The unwavering support of Air Canada's friends, partners and employees made this year's Foundation's signature fundraising event the most successful to date with net proceeds of  over $1 million  raised in support of children in need," said Priscille LeBlanc, Air Canada's Vice President, Corporate Communications and Chair of the Air Canada Foundation. "The funds raised will increase the Foundation's ability to make a difference in the lives of thousands of children across Canada through financial and travel assistance to children's hospitals, charitable organizations and causes focused on helping children. On behalf of all the people whose lives are touched by the Air Canada Foundation, I thank our loyal sponsors, participants and volunteers for their on-going enthusiasm and generosity."

As a registered not-for-profit organization, the Air Canada Foundation's mission is to help connect sick children to the medical care they need, grant children's wishes and alleviate child poverty. The Foundation also actively participates in humanitarian activity following natural disasters around the world. The following are highlights of the Air Canada Foundation's activities in 2014:

Cash Donations

Funds are donated to programs or projects submitted by eligible registered charitable organizations that meet the Air Canada Foundation selection criteria. Information is available at aircanada.com/foundation. Some of the recipients of the 2014 fund donations were:

• Breakfast Clubs of Canada to support existing school breakfast programs in aboriginal communities and finance the cost of equipment and training for new programs.
• 14 Canadian pediatric hospitals, members of the Children's Miracle Network to assist with their most urgent funding needs.
• Dreams Take Flight Canada, a charitable organization founded and driven by Air Canada employees and retirees who enable thousands of children with physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds from across Canada to experience an all-expense paid day at Disney.
• Shriners Hospital Canada, as part of a five-year commitment to the Young Patient Lounge area of Montreal's new hospital.
• Pathways to Education's The Pathways Air Canada Foundation Scholarship Fund, which is a three-year commitment towards the creation of a scholarship fund called to help youth from low-income communities graduate from high school and successfully transition into post-secondary education and training.
• Beyond Borders ECPAT's program, which helps to free children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

In-Kind Support

In 2014, the Air Canada Foundation managed over $3.5M in in-kind support donated by Air Canada including:

• Aircraft for eight Dreams Take Flight trips to Disney.
• Support to over 300 charitable organizations with the gift of travel for hundreds of fundraising events.
• A partnership with the RCMP Child Recovery Program to ensure the safe return of several missing children.
• The Air Canada Foundation Hospital Transportation Program which donated over 10 million Aeroplan Miles to pediatric hospitals across Canada enabling children to access medical care not available in their own communities.
• A Volunteer Involvement Program for employees which awarded support to 105 charitable organizations in which Air Canada employees volunteer in their own community, including:
  • Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer – Team Air Canada – Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia
  • Canadian Hard of Hearing Association Vancouver – British Columbia
  • Banff Food Bank Society – Alberta
  • Winnipeg Harvest Inc. – Manitoba
  • Autism Society– Ontario
  • Fondation du Syndrome D'Angelman – Montréal
  • Charlotte County Cancer Society Inc. – New Brunswick
  • Glenn's Helping Hand Foundation Inc. – Newfoundland

About the Air Canada Foundation

In celebration of its 75 years of community involvement, Air Canada launched in 2012 the Air Canada Foundation, a not-for-profit organization focused on the health and well-being of children and youth. The Air Canada Foundation offers both financial and in-kind support, through travel assistance, to Canadian registered charities.  Core programs include the Hospital Transportation Program, which donates Aeroplan Miles to pediatric hospitals across Canada enabling children to access medical care unavailable locally; the Volunteer Involvement Program recognizes the involvement of employees in their local community by providing airline tickets to the registered charities in support of their fundraising initiatives.  The Foundation in collaboration with the airline also engages directly in fundraising activities such as the Every Bit Counts program which encourages customers to donate loose change of all denominations onboard flights or through airport collection containers. The Foundation also offers continued support to major health-related causes that benefit Canadians and is an active participant in international humanitarian relief activity as the need arises.  For more information about The Air Canada Foundation, please visit www.aircanada.com/foundation or the 2013 Corporate Sustainability Report, Citizens of the World, online at http://www.aircanada.com/csr.

About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 190 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2014 served more than 38 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 Canadian cities, 52 destinations in the United States and 78 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,321 airports in 193 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com  follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada

Image with caption: "Thanks for the support! #AirCanadaFoundation charity golf event raised $1,072,000 to help children in need! (CNW Group/Air Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150715_C6323_PHOTO_EN_446751.jpg

Isabelle Arthur (Montréal), [email protected], 514 422-5788; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), [email protected], 416 263-5576; Angela Mah (Vancouver), [email protected], 604 270-5741; Internet: aircanada.com