Community Shares announces outstanding fundraising
campaign results
$800,000 raised and 3 new groups to receive funding thanks
to generous donors
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, April 14, 2010 – Today West Island Community Shares announced that it had surpassed its 2009-2010 fundraising goal by 15% to raise the record amount of $800,000. The results were made public at Community Shares’ 12th Annual Fund Distribution Ceremony, where Caroline Tison, Executive Director, also announced that Community Shares will fund three new charitable organizations. A total of 33 charitable organizations will now receive funding from Community Shares, well over half the number of charities who call the West Island home.
“We are so pleased that we will be able to increase the funding of all groups and take on three additional groups,” said Chantal Carrier, President of the Community Shares fund distribution committee. “This means that more West Island residents will find the help they need close to home.”
“Our supporters are at the heart of our success,” added Tison. “It is their commitment to building a strong community and helping to change the lives of people in need, right here in the West Island that is our driving force.”
Tison thanked West Island citizens who made donations, corporate donors and fundraisers, employees of West Island businesses who donate through workplace campaigns and all partners and sponsors, noting that the results are a testament to their generosity.
More than 10,000 public and corporate supporters contributed to the success of this year’s campaign through donations, fundraising events, partnerships and sponsorships. The Exceptional Community Engagement Award was given out to National Bank Financial Group for being the top fundraiser through donations and fundraising events. The city of Kirkland and the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro both received the award for the largest increases in the amount raised through the workplace campaign. The Major Donor Award was given to the Tenaquip Foundation for its donation of $100,000 to Community Shares. A posthumous award for Mr. Gerry Arsenault, former Director General of Développement Économique West-Island / CLD de l’Ouest-de-l’Île was given to his family for his steadfast support of Community Shares.
Community Shares’ nine corporate partners – Pfizer Canada, Desjardins, Tenaquip, Schering-Plough Canada, Avon Canada, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Merck Frosst Canada, Bromelin People Practices and Roxboro Excavation - were also acknowledged for their continued support. Their three-year financial commitments help cover administrative costs, allowing Community Shares to distribute 100% of donations received to the community. In Canada, this structure is unique to the West Island, making it the only community to sustain an organization like Community Shares.
Corus Québec, Westmount Moving, Bel-Fast Printing, The Chronicle and Cités Nouvelles, Community Shares’ service partners, were also thanked for their support. The IGA merchants of the West Island also received thanks for providing the hors d’oeuvres for the celebration and for supporting Community Shares throughout the year.
Last but not least, Caroline Tison thanked Community Shares’ team of more than 300 volunteers for their dedication and commitment, including the 18 members of the Fund Distribution Committee. The committee, which is presided over by Mrs. Chantal Carrier, reviews and evaluates all funding applications to ensure that specific criteria are met. This committee also reviews annual evaluations and financial statements and performs on-site visits to the groups after they have been accepted for funding.
Representatives from all the groups that received funding were present at the event. The name of the groups and the amounts distributed are as follows:
SOCIAL SERVICES SECTOR (60% OF FUNDS DISTRIBUTED):
Action Jeunesse
de l’Ouest-de-l’Île (AJOI) - $17,500
The youth/street workers of
West Island Youth Action offer prevention and intervention on issues such as
drugs, alcohol, violence, sexuality, and homelessness to youths 12 to 25 years
old. The workers encourage teenagers to discover and develop alternatives
to the streets and provide them with the opportunity to speak about their
needs.
AMCAL Family Services – $61,000
AMCAL provides a
residence for teens in crisis and counseling services to their family members.
It also offers a full range of programs and services for families in
difficulty.
AVATIL - Towards Independent Living - $12,000
Offers
one-stop, community-based services, including support networks for those
individuals with a mild intellectual handicap living on their own, and
residential alternatives for those requiring a structured living situation.
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the West Island - $24,000
This organization provides responsible adult guidance to children through
quality mentoring and in-school programs. Trained volunteers are matched with
children and support them professionally in their search for a full and happy
life.
Bread Basket Lac St-Louis - $5,000 (New Group)
Bread
Basket Lac-St-Louis operates a set of initiatives under the name of Project
Delmar in the community of Delmar, Pointe Claire. The priority initiatives
are to address food security with programs that will provide access to healthy,
fresh foods, social development issues such as environmental concerns and social
housing, and to encourage and support a resident’s committee.
Carrefour des 6-12 ans – $35,000
The Carrefour provides
services for children living in areas of our community where low income families
make up more than 70% of the population, and where 42% of students have learning
difficulties and require specialized education support.
Cloverdale Multi-Resources Family Centre –
$18,500
Encourages children and families from the Cloverdale area
and its surroundings who often live in difficult conditions to get involved with
each other, to improve and maintain their well-being through various services
such as animation, prevention and education.
De-Zone Youth Centre - $10,000
De-Zone Youth center is a
safe, substance-free space where youth between the ages of 12 and 17 can spend
time to hang out, talk with youth workers, get homework help, take guitar and
art classes and meet new people.
Family Resource Centre - $10,000 (New Group)
The Family
Resource Center works to support all West Island children with learning and
behavioral difficulties. Their specialized programs provide emotional
support, referral services and skill development for children, their parents and
professionals. Their programs and activities include: individual and
family counseling, advocacy, parenting workshops, social skills programs and
study skills programs.
Leave Out ViolencE (LOVE) - $15,000
Offers youth
the support and skills they need to reject negative behavior and to replace
aggression with more constructive ways to be seen and heard. LOVE’s unique
approach of youth reaching out to youth has impacted the lives of hundreds of
young people across the West Island.
La Maison de Jeunes de Pierrefonds – $20,500
La Maison de Jeunes
de A-Ma-Baie – $20,500
Les Maisons de Jeunes are activity and
resource centers for youths that offer a constructive alternative to the streets
and shopping centers for teenagers looking for guidance and a healthy place to
hang out. For many teens, this place offers them a level of stability they
cannot find at home.
Light a Dream - $5,000 (New Group)
Provides young adults
with special needs the opportunity to experience and learn in a productive
business environment while providing the community with quality products and
services. The program promotes their understanding of various business and
economic principles, while enhancing their social, interpersonal, decision
making and leadership skills.
Literacy Unlimited - $10,000
In the West Island, 35,000
youth and adults are at risk for poor health, unemployment, poverty, substance
abuse, problems with the law and becoming outcasts in our society due to a low
level of literacy. Literacy Unlimited helps West Islanders remove this
stigma by offering a one-to-one tutoring program, adult education classroom
assistance and a high school literacy program.
Pierrefonds Community Project – $58,000
Provides services
and programs for low-income and immigrant families. They also offer a young
mothers program that helps girls as young as 14 years old cope with the
challenges of parenthood.
Volunteer West Island - $30,500
Recruits volunteers for
the West Island non-profit community. Also implements social programs reducing
isolation and assisting seniors to remain autonomous.
West Island Assistance Fund - $29,000
For more than 35
years, the West Island Assistance Fund has helped West Island families who need
food or any other type of support resulting from a poor social condition.
Also offers free summer camp experience for under-privileged children living in
the West Island.
West Island CALACS - $20,500
Offers help to women who
have been the victims of sexual assault, as well as programs for the prevention
of sexual assault. CALACS is the only service in the West Island to offer these
services to women 14 years and older.
West Island Citizens Advocacy – $20,000
Matches West
Island residents who need help with volunteer advocates who provide emotional,
practical or social support.
West Island Community Resource Centre – $37,000
Offers
information and referral clinics for people in crisis as well as workshops,
publications and telephone services. On average, 7,000 residents seek health and
social services information for themselves, their family, friends and neighbors
each year.
HEALTH SECTOR (37.75 % OF FUNDS DISTRIBUTED):
ANEB (Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia) – $41,000
ANEB
Quebec helps people whose lives have been touched by an eating disorder and
their families. Eating disorders affect up to 10,000 West Islanders between the
ages of 15 and 40 and their families every year.
AWISH (Arthritis West Island Self Help Association) – $30,000
Provides information, education and support and an exercise program
to West Islanders affected by arthritis.
Centre Bienvenue - $46,000
Provides support and
psychosocial services in the community, and work reintegration programs to
improve acceptance of mental illness and contribute actively to society.
Community Perspective in Mental Health – $32,500
Provides individualized support in the community to adults coping
with a mental illness.
Friends for Mental Health – $32,000
Friends for Mental
Health provide crucial support, counseling and respite services to West Island
families coping with the mental illness of a loved one.
L’Équipe Entreprise - $29,500
Provides work activities
that assist West Islanders living with a mental illness.
Omega Community Resources - $15,500
This day centre is
open Monday-Saturday to assist adults with mental health problems residing in
the West Island. The Saturday program offers clients support and follow-up while
encouraging improvement of their self-esteem and autonomy.
Venturing Out Beyond Our Cancer (VOBOC) - $18,500
VOBOC
Is dedicated to easing the cancer journey by granting special requests for
adolescents and young adults undergoing cancer treatment.
Volunteer Accompaniment Service (ABO-VAS) - $21,000
Provides transportation and accompaniment to treatment for
residents battling cancer or other critical illnesses who have no other means of
transportation.
WIAIH & The Pat Roberts Centre – $42,000
This
special family resource centre provides preschool, recreational, residential and
respite services to people with intellectual handicaps and autism and support to
their families.
West Island Cancer Wellness Centre (WICWC) - $
15,000
Offers a whole-person approach to cancer care focusing on the
physical, emotional, social, spiritual and educational needs of those
experiencing cancer.
ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE SECTOR (2.25% OF FUNDS
DISTRIBUTED):
The Ecomuseum Zoo - $8,000
Teaches children and adults the importance of protecting the local
environment and wildlife. Visitors can discover more than 115 species of live
animals from Quebec in a natural setting. Offers a large variety of activities
on-site and off-site.
West Island Youth Symphony Orchestra – $10,000
Offers
young musicians (aged 8-25) the opportunity to develop skills, discipline, a
sense of teamwork and a deeper understanding of music.
