TELUS gives $3 million to hundreds of deserving charities in the greater Montreal region
MONTREAL, Oct. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - TELUS and the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Quebec Chapter (AFP) are pleased to honour three outstanding and committed community leaders in the greater Montreal region, the top three winners of the TELUS Community Excellence Awards: Manon Barbeau, Co-founder, Executive Director and Artistic Director, Wapikoni mobile; Ugo Dionne, Co-Founder, Bénévoles d'affaires; and Bernard Lamarre, Chairman of the board, École Polytechnique.
This important honour was part of the TELUS Celebration of Giving in Montreal, an annual event that brings together 150 professionals and volunteers from the community sector. During this special day, TELUS recognizes the generosity and dedicated work of all those who make a real difference in their community. TELUS also announced a $3 million donation to support hundreds of charities in the greater Montreal region in 2012.
"The TELUS Celebration of Giving is an important day for us because it allows TELUS to recognize the contribution of all those committed to the well-being of our community. This year, we're taking that recognition even further by celebrating three outstanding community leaders chosen from among 200 nominations across the province," said François Gratton, Senior Vice-President, Business Markets, Eastern Canada, and Vice-Chair of the TELUS Montreal Community Board. "Our community investment philosophy, We give where we live, draws inspiration from people like our 2012 Community Excellence award winners who inspire and contribute to building a better future for our communities. These distinguished community leaders embody generosity and innovation in philanthropy."
TELUS and AFP-Quebec Chapter chose the three TELUS Community Excellence Awards winners from a pool of 200 leaders across Quebec because their commitment to philanthropy and passion for innovation sets them apart. This contest was launched as part of the celebrations surrounding TELUS' 85th anniversary in Quebec in collaboration with La Presse and Le Soleil.
Manon Barbeau, Co-founder, Executive Director and Artistic Director of Wapikoni mobile
Manon Barbeau strives to give a voice to those on society's fringe: people struggling with intellectual disabilities or mental illness, young people living in the street, prisoners or young people living in isolated aboriginal communities. With Wapikoni mobile, a studio devoted to intervention as well as to audio-visual and musical creation, Ms. Barbeau contributes to prevention and reducing suicide, drug addiction, crime and youth drop-out rates. To date, her project has made it possible for several thousand young people from 21 aboriginal communities and eight nations to try their hand at video and music, and to express themselves through art. In 2009, Manon Barbeau received a Gémeaux award and was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship. In 2010, she received the Prix Reconnaissance from UQÀM and, in 2011, the Rights and Freedoms prize awarded by the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse. In May 2012, she was named "Personality of the Week" by La Presse and Radio-Canada. She is currently in the running for the 2012 Prix femmes d'affaires du Québec.
Ugo Dionne, Co-Founder of Bénévoles d'affaires
Ugo Dionne, president of Synesis-Versalys, is co-founder of Bénévoles d'affaires (BA), an organization active since 2006 whose mission is to build bridges between the business community and organizations in the greater Montreal region so that participating organizations might take advantage of the best expertise. Thanks to the involvement of Mr. Dionne and his team, and despite limited means, BA has 3,000 volunteers and 800 organizations, and has done more than 1,300 business-organization matches. Since the beginning of the year, every week, 15 new volunteers join BA and eight matches are created on average. In 2007, Ugo Dionne was named one of Canada's "Top 40 Under 40" by Caldwell Partners, received the Hommage Bénévolat-Québec Award from the government of Quebec, as well as the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf's Prix de la relève. In 2006, he was named "Personality of the Week" by La Presse and Radio-Canada.
Bernard Lamarre, Chairman of the board, École Polytechnique
Bernard Lamarre is an exceptional scientific engineer who most notably worked for Lavalin Inc., first as President and Chief Executive Officer, then as a consultant. Throughout his career, Mr. Lamarre has found the time to invest in the community, as a volunteer and as a major contributor. The Lassonde Pavillions and the Trottier Atrium at the Polytechnique are prime examples of Mr. Lamarre's work and generosity. True to his renewed involvement in the community, he devotes his time by serving as chairman on numerous boards of directors including the boards of Groupe Bellechasse Santé and Montreal's École Polytechnique. He was Chairman of the TELUS Montreal Community Board from 2006 to 2011, and Chairman of the board of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Mr. Lamarre holds no fewer than 11 titles and honorary diplomas in the engineering field, the sciences and business, including being a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and Officer of the Order of Canada.
We give where we live
TELUS focuses its giving on educating and empowering youth to improve their quality of life and to enable them to reach their full potential. Since 2005, TELUS has given more than $30 million to Quebec charities through its community boards, the Team TELUS Charitable Giving program, local contributions and community partnerships. Even more importantly, the 5,500 members of the TELUS team in Quebec volunteered 57,000 hours last year. Opération Enfant Soleil, the The Dr Julien Foundation, FitSpirit and the Lighthouse, Children and Families are among the charities supported by TELUS. Charitable organizations who would like to request funding for one of their projects from a TELUS Community Board are invited to visit telus.com/community.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $10.6 billion of annual revenue and 12.8 million customer connections including 7.4 million wireless subscribers, 3.5 million wireline network access lines, 1.3 million Internet subscribers and 595,000 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 $260 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.2 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
Jacinthe Beaulieu
TELUS Media Relations
418-318-6102
[email protected]
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