Kids Help Phone Announces Three New Board Members

TORONTO, June 12, 2012 /CNW/ - Kids Help Phone, the leading bilingual, anonymous and confidential professional youth counselling service in Canada, is pleased to announce that at the May 2012 Annual General Meeting, Kids Help Phone Chair Mr. Kerry Arbour welcomed three new elected representatives who will serve on the charity's national Board of Directors. Mr. Dave J. Burns, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, LoyaltyOne, Dr. Shaheen Shariff, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, McGill University, and Mr. Andrew Walker, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs, Sobeys Inc., bring a diversity of expertise to the organization and a passionate commitment to the well-being and positive mental health of the young people throughout Canada.

"It is a privilege and an honour to serve with such an extraordinary group of talented and caring individuals from across Canada," says Kerry Arbour, Kids Help Phone Board Chair. "The combination of clinical knowledge and executive leadership of the entire Board of Directors will ensure Kids Help Phone continues to bring much wisdom in ensuring its mission of "being there" for the *6.5 million young people who depend on this essential and critical service. This Board understands its vital role in governing and supporting an environment for sustainability in order to uphold our promise of continued access to free, professional counselling, available when and how our kids need it most."

Kids Help Phone Board of Directors 2012/2013

Chair
Kerry Arbour, Vice President, Customer Service

Vice Chair
Deb Craven, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Purolator Courier Ltd

Past Chair
Steve Wuthmann, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Parmalat Canada Ltd.

Treasurer
Harry Wierenga, Vice President & Regional Director, Banking BMO Harris Private Banking

Founding Partner Representatives
Nestlé Canada Inc., Shelley Martin, Business Leader, President, Nestlé Ice Cream
BMO Financial Group, Richard Rudderham, Executive Vice President, Head of Human Resources
Parmalat Canada Inc., Cheryl Smith, Executive Vice President, Consumer and Trade Marketing
Bell Canada, Vacant

Clinical Advisory Representatives
Jeanette Lewis, Retired Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies
Dr. Shaheen Shariff, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, McGill University
Western Canada Clinical Advisory Representative is currently in recruitment

Regional Representatives
Harry Wierenga (British Columbia / Yukon), Vice President + Regional Director, BMO Harris Private Banking
Brenda Stasuik (Manitoba / Saskatchewan), Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Farm Credit Canada
Graham Lute (Ontario) Retired Executive, Nestlé Canada Inc.
Jeff Gaulin (Alberta), Director, Corporate Communications and Government Relations, Tervita Corp.
Sheila Blair-Reid (Nova Scotia), Consultant, Spring Business Solutions
Quebec Regional Representative is currently in recruitment

General Representatives
Dave J. Burns, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, LoyaltyOne
John Cardella,  Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Ceridian International
Mark Kummer, Vice President, Service Provider Cisco Canada
Carolyn McGill, President & Chief Executive Officer, CNW Group
Harriet (Hatty) Reisman, Lawyer and Founder Reisman Law Offices
Andrew Walker, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs, Sobeys Inc.

Secretary and Legal Counsel
Steven Golick, Partner, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Ex-Officio
Sharon Wood, President & CEO, Kids Help Phone

About Kids Help Phone

Since 1989, Kids Help Phone has been Canada's leading online and phone counselling service for youth. It's free, it's anonymous and confidential, and it's available any time of the day or night, 365 days a year in English and in French.  Professional counsellors support the mental health and well-being of young people, ages five to 20, by providing one-on-one counselling, information and resources.  As a community-based national charity, Kids Help Phone receives no core government funding and relies on community and corporate support to fund its essential and vital service.

* Source: represents the age group Kids Help Phone serves (from 5 to 20) according to Statistics Canada, CANSIM, table 051-0001. Last modified: 2010-09-29.

David Gray
Vice President - Marketing, Communications + Strategic Development
[email protected]
416.581.8951