Local youth to be empowered to 'Give Where You Live'

TELUS and Free The Children launch Give Where You Live school curriculum in British Columbia

VANCOUVER, Jan. 29, 2013 /CNW/ - Today, TELUS announced their Give Where You Live educational curriculum at Britannia Secondary School - a program that will teach young people how to translate their passion and ideas for their community into real change.

This new program, developed in partnership with Free The Children, will educate, encourage and empower young Canadians to identify social issues and take action on them to make positive change in their local communities. The Give Where You Live curriculum and speaking tours will launch in 40 B.C. middle and secondary schools this year, with the expectation that 150,000 youth across Canada will be involved in the philanthropic curriculum by 2016.

The program engages youth on the importance of giving back, teaching that one's own time and talent is often the most powerful and rewarding gift we can give. TELUS and Free The Children aim to help kick-start a movement of Canadian youth who are making a difference in their communities. This curriculum recognizes the great potential in today's youth to identify opportunities to enhance the lives of others, and will encourage and support Canadian youth along their journey to becoming inspired, educated leaders of tomorrow.

"We launched this curriculum because our youth are often the most engaged group in their local communities, and this is our way of helping to foster their incredibly innovative ideas that can lead to positive change benefiting citizens in need," said Josh Blair, TELUS EVP & Chief Corporate Officer. "Young Canadians already have the heart and the will to act, but not always the necessary resources. That's where we come in. We want to connect with our youth and provide them the support and tools they need in order to act on their desire to change the world, one community at a time."

The curriculum teaches students about the various forms of philanthropy and highlights the importance of corporate social responsibility in the 21^st Century. Each participating school will be encouraged to identify causes in their community that individual students, classes or entire schools can support. Once groups have developed a strategy, they will have the opportunity to apply for a $1,000 charitable grant from TELUS to bring their initiative to life.

"Growing up, my friends and I were always searching for ways we could help get involved and make a difference in our community, but they were difficult to find," said Craig Kielburger, founder of Free The Children. "The Give Where you Live program will provide our schools and their students with all the tools, information and support they ever wanted to help spark change and support their local community, helping them to become future leaders and change makers."

In addition to launching the curriculum, TELUS and Free The Children have commenced Give Where You Live speaking tours. The presentations and workshops showcase Free The Children team members who will travel around B.C., and eventually across Canada, in an effort to further inspire and empower Canadian students.

For more information on TELUS in our community, please visit www.telus.com/community

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading telecommunications company in Canada, thanks to $10.8 billion in annual revenue and 13 million customer connections, including 7.6 million wireless subscribers, 3.5 million wireline network access lines, 1.3 million Internet subscribers and 635,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet Protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $300 million to numerous charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.8 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Fourteen TELUS Community Boards lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

SOURCE: TELUS Corporation

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