Terasen Gas employees make wishes come true for families in transition homes
this season

SURREY, BC, Dec. 22 /CNW/ - For the fifth consecutive holiday season, Terasen Gas employees have delivered tidings of comfort and joy to children and women who have sought temporary refuge in transition homes. Through an annual two-week toy drive, employees donated and delivered new toys, winter clothing and gifts to families living in six Lower Mainland transition homes.

"We would like to thank the staff of Terasen Gas for their yearly donations of Christmas gifts to the women and children at Evergreen and Virginia Sam Transition Houses, and to Threshold Multicultural Women's Outreach Program," said Deara Dirk, Program Manager. "We are aware of the hard work and the generosity of Terasen employees - who desire to make the season of cheer more cheerful for those going through very difficult times."

Hearing that transition homes were facing more demand for support in light of this year's economic downturn, employees vowed to make the 2009 toy drive their biggest effort yet, supporting two additional transition homes, including Nova House in Richmond , Marguerite Dixon in Burnaby, Evergreen and Virginia Sam in Surrey, Ishtar House in Langley, Cythera House in Maple Ridge , and TriCities Women's House in Coquitlam.

"Continuing last year's trend of taking on additional transition homes allowed us to help 20 per cent more mothers and children this season," said Amy Hennessy , Manager, Community Relations and Warm Hearts Chair, Terasen Gas. "It's important to our employees and our company to give where we live throughout the year, and it's inspiring to see employees outdo themselves once again through their donations and commitment to making life better for people in the communities where we live and work."

The Terasen Gas Warm Hearts Toy Drive began in 2005, and has helped families spending the holidays in Lower Mainland transition homes every year since. The families living in these homes come with very limited resources, and Terasen Gas employees donate new toys and winter clothing, and also work with the homes to attain personal wish lists in order to specially purchase items on the families' wish list.

"These contributions put smiles on faces of women and children over the holidays. And those smiles are Terasen's gift not only to our clients but to our staff as well. We are delivering a heartfelt thank you to Terasen," said Dirk.

The toy drive is just one of the community efforts organized each year by Warm Hearts, the registered charity founded and run by Terasen employees. Through employee donations and fundraisers, Warm Hearts has donated close to $500,000 to charities throughout the province since it was founded in 1994. Warm Hearts supports the health and wellbeing of many different charities serving B.C. communities - from hospitals and hospices, to shelters and youth centres.

Terasen Gas is mainly composed of the operations of Terasen Gas Inc. and Terasen Gas ( Vancouver Island) Inc., both indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of Fortis Inc. Fortis Inc., the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada , serves more than two million gas and electric customers and has total assets approaching $12 billion . Its regulated holdings include Terasen Gas and electric utilities in five Canadian provinces and three Caribbean countries. Fortis Inc. owns non-regulated hydroelectric generation assets across Canada and in Belize and upper New York State. It also owns hotels and commercial real estate in Canada . Fortis Inc. shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com or www.sedar.com.

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For further information: Media contact: Amy Hennessy, Manager, Community Relations, Terasen Gas, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected]