TELUS and Free The Children connect with Canada's youth to help them change the world

TELUS announces five-year partnership as National Co-Title sponsor of We Day and new TELUS Phones for Good cause campaign to support youth empowerment

TORONTO, Sept. 4, 2012 /CNW/ - TELUS and Free The Children announced today TELUS' five-year National Co-Title sponsorship of We Day, a series of events held across Canada to inspire youth to create change in their communities and around the world. In addition to its sponsorship, TELUS will launch a Phones for Good campaign on September 7, giving $25 from the sale of every TELUS Samsung Galaxy SIII or Samsung Ace Q to Free the Children*.

TELUS is also giving young Canadians the opportunity to attend the highly popular We Day event in their city through a special Earn Your Way to We Day initiative. Starting September 12, youth can visit telusforweday.com to submit stories about what they are doing to make a difference in their communities. TELUS will give $1 to Free The Children for each submission**, and participants will be entered in a random draw to become part of the TELUS Crew who will document and share their experience at We Day with youth across Canada.

Following the first We Day in Toronto on September 28, TELUS will launch a second campaign to encourage youth to upload a video to telusforweday.com describing how they would partner with a local charity to make a positive change in their community. The top ideas will be selected by Free The Children and TELUS, with the winning youth receiving a $20,000 contribution to put their idea into action. With the support of its customers, TELUS' Phones for Good and Earn Your Way to We Day initiatives will collectively generate up to $750,000 for Free the Children*** to support youth empowerment and social change in Canada.

"TELUS is a uniquely Canadian company and innovative thought leader that recognizes the importance of supporting Canadian youth in their efforts to give back, build healthy and sustainable communities and foster a stronger more compassionate nation," said Marc Kielburger, co-founder of Free The Children. "TELUS' commitment to charitable giving, corporate donations and volunteerism across the country is truly unparalleled and we are excited and honoured to be partnering with TELUS and their team on this long-term initiative."

TELUS' community investment strategy focuses on educating and empowering youth to improve their quality of life and enabling them to reach their full potential. Since 2006, TELUS, its team members and retirees have given more than $3 million dollars in charitable donations and sponsorship funding to Free The Children, including the support of past We Day programs and events.

"We are passionate about our community giving philosophy, we give where we live, and in creating a legacy of giving based on innovation and supporting youth through technology," said Jill Schnarr, vice-president of TELUS Community Investment and Engagement. "TELUS and our team members across Canada are thrilled to partner with Free The Children to help inspire the young leaders of tomorrow by instilling a passion for learning, philanthropy and social innovation."

TELUS and RBC are the two National Co-Title Sponsors of We Day, when youth and educators from across North America join together with world renowned speakers and performers to celebrate and build the momentum of young people making a difference in their communities and around the world. Through We Day, youth learn that it is cool to care. More than 90,000 youth are expected to participate in We Day events in seven cities across Canada throughout the 2012/2013 school year:

• We Day Toronto: September 28, 2012, Air Canada Centre
• We Day Vancouver: October 18, 2012, Rogers Arena
• We Day Alberta: October 24, 2012, Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary
• We Day Manitoba: October 30, 2012, MTS Centre, Winnipeg
• We Day Waterloo Region: November 14, 2012, Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
• We Day Montreal: November 20, 2012, Theatre St Denis
• National We Day: April 29, 2013, Robert Guertin Arena in Ottawa

For more information visit www.weday.com.

*up to a maximum of $650,000
**up to a maximum of $100,000
***visit telusforweday.com for contest rules when the website goes live on September 12, 2012

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.

About Free The Children
Free The Children is the world's largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries.  Founded in 1995 by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, we are a charity and educational partner that believes in a world where all young people are free to achieve their fullest potential as agents of change. Our domestic programs educate, engage and empower hundreds of thousands of youth in North America, the UK and around the world. Our international projects have brought over 650 schools and school rooms to youth and provided clean water, health care and sanitation to one million people around the world.

Free The Children has a proven track record of success. The organization has received the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child (also known as the Children's Nobel Prize), the Human Rights Award from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, and has formed successful partnerships with leading school boards and Oprah's Angel Network. For additional information, please visit www.freethechildren.com.

SOURCE: TELUS Corporation

For media inquiries, please contact: 

Lauren Stasila
Free The Children
416-558-9310
[email protected]

Donna Ramirez
TELUS Media Relations
416-320-9309
[email protected]