Help us tell the story of Vimy Ridge - Vimy Foundation awareness campaign
moves into new phase

MONTREAL, March 31 /CNW Telbec/ - The Vimy Foundation's new awareness campaign, entitled "Help Us Tell the Story", moves into a new phase this week in the lead-up to Vimy Ridge Day on April 9th.

In the wake of the passing of John 'Jack' Babcock, the last Canadian veteran of the First World War, the Foundation has increased its efforts to tell the story of Canada's role in the Great War. According to historians, the Battle of Vimy Ridge was a seminal moment in Canada's evolution from dominion to nation, yet a 2008 survey found that only 7% of Canadians know that we are meant to celebrate this historic event. The Vimy Foundation is working to change that.

As we approach April 9th, the Vimy Foundation is sponsoring or is involved in several events highlighting this important moment in Canadian history, including:

    
    - April 7: Royal Canadian Military Institute Black Tie Dinner (Toronto)
      Featuring guest speaker Sir Nicholas Bonsor
    - April 8: Vimy Ridge Public School Opening Celebrations (Ajax ON)
    - April 9: Vimy Ridge Bay Street Breakfast (Toronto)
      Featuring guest speaker Gen. Rick Hillier (Ret.)
    - April 9: Vimy Foundation rings the opening bell at the TSX (Toronto)
    - April 9: Vimy Foundation announces the winners of the Beaverbrook Vimy
      Prize
    

Vimy Foundation representatives will also be present at several End of an Era Commemorative Ceremonies across Canada, in London, England and in Vimy, France on April 9, organized by Veterans Affairs Canada.

Information about specific media interview/photo opportunities will be made available closer to the date of the particular event.

Since the beginning of March, the Foundation has also been promoting the Vimy Pin, nicknamed "April's Poppy" and available at www.vimyfoundation.ca, with fundraising efforts across the country. Newspaper advertising, made possible in part by the generous support of ZSA Legal Recruitment and the National Post, has contributed to a sharp rise in sales. It is the Vimy Foundation's long-term goal to have all Canadians proudly wearing a Vimy Pin on their lapel as a celebration of this great victory.

About the Foundation

The Vimy Foundation is a registered charity founded in 2006 to make young people more aware of the vital role Canadian soldiers played at Vimy Ridge, a landmark engagement of the First World War. Inspired by those events, the Foundation created the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize, bringing together youth from Canada, the United Kingdom and France so that they can better appreciate their intertwined history and the lessons that can be learned from it. The Foundation also sponsors Vimy: Canada's Coming of Age, a unique educational experience for youth at Encounters with Canada in Ottawa on April 4-10, 2010. To learn more, visit www.vimyfoundation.ca.

For further information: and interviews: Andrew Ross, Ravenhill Communications for The Vimy Foundation, [phone], [email protected]