TELUS eases back to school bill for 740 families in the Greater Toronto Area

TELUS Community Ambassadors give 10,000 backpacks across Canada to help kids start the school year on the right foot.

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - This year, TELUS Community Ambassadors in the Greater Toronto Area are easing some of that back-to-school financial strain for families throughout the region as 740 students will receive a free backpack filled with school supplies in time to start the new school year. This initiative is part of TELUS' Kits for Kids program, an annual tradition through which thousands of backpacks are distributed to young students in need across Canada.

"Back-to-school preparation is a crucial step in our kids' academic success. Each parent wants their child to have everything they need to start the school year on the right foot. Unfortunately, several of them are unable to do so due to financial hardships," notes Crystal Brummell, president of the Central Toronto Community Ambassadors. "Programs such as TELUS' Kits for Kids are incredibly important for families in need. Not only do they ease some of the financial burden of back to school shopping, they also level the playing field by ensuring all students start the school year with the same basic supplies as their friends. Children deserve an equal opportunity to succeed, learn and grow."

Since 2006 nearly 60,000 Kits for Kids backpacks have been given to kids in need. The kits are prepared by Community Ambassadors each May during the annual TELUS Day of Giving - a special day in which TELUS team members and retirees across Canada volunteer in support of local activities to make positive, heartfelt and lasting connections within their communities. They are filled with the essential school supplies for each grade: pencils, notebooks, loose-leaf sheets, pencil cases, rulers and much more. The kits then are delivered to the school districts in June to allow the schools to determine need and to be able to notify recipient children and parents before they break for the summer.

About TELUS Community Ambassadors
The TELUS Community Ambassadors are active team members and retirees who volunteer at community events and support dozens of TELUS-sponsored programs and initiatives. Last year, all 21 clubs based in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec gave close to 65,000 care items worth a total of $900,000. Their accomplishments include distributing nearly 9,500 Kits for Kids school bags, 12,000 comfort kits to families and homeless people in need, as well as sewing 3,000 heart-shaped pillows to comfort heart transfer patients.

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 more than 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 data, voice, Internet protocol (IP), entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $260 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.2 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Eleven TELUS Community Boards across Canada 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

Emma Miller
TELUS Media Relations
647-464-6817
[email protected]