Telus will give more than $5.4 million to Greater Toronto Area-based charities and community organizations in 2013, including $700,000 for youth-focused grassroots charities in the Greater Toronto Area through TELUS’ Toronto Community Board.
The announcement came just a few days before today’s massive news regarding another Canadian player in the cellular industry, as BlackBerry is reportedly mulling an acquisition offer from a consortium led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. for about $4.7 billion.
Telus however is in a much different position than BlackBerry, and recently celebrated its charitable announcement at the TELUS Celebration of Giving event in Toronto.
“Today’s event showcases our spirit to ‘give where we live’ and honour the organizations that help to create stronger and healthier communities in our city,” said Telus’ Sandy McIntosh. “In particular, our Telus team members and our Toronto Community Board will continue working with local organizations to support their goal of giving youth substantial opportunities.”
In addition, the corporation presented a $210,000 cheque to Rethink Breast Cancer following the completion of the Phones for Good campaign where it donated $25 on behalf of every new Samsung GALAXY S4 customer, across Canada, during the summer. Rethink promotes breast cancer education, awareness and support to women under 40 years old.
“TELUS’ long term commitment to the breast cancer cause and our organization has made a significant impact in the lives of Canadians struggling with this disease,” said MJ Decoteau of Rethink Breast Cancer. “With this generous contribution from TELUS we can continue to provide much-needed support and education for young Canadian women diagnosed with breast cancer.”
During the Celebration of Giving Telus also launched a speaker series to educate its small-and medium-sized business customers on how investing in their community and becoming more socially responsible will help enhance their business success. Guest speakers Marc Kielburger, co-founder and co-CEO of Free the Children and Me to We; Julia Deans, CEO of Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF); and Gonzala Riva, CYBF entrepreneur and COO and Lead Strategist of Twenty One Toys, discussed the importance of giving back when they spoke on how social responsibility has affected their businesses.
Since 2000, Telus and its more than 6,000 employees and retirees living in the GTA will have contributed more than $32 million and volunteered 215,000 hours to local community organizations including The United Way, The Royal Conservatory of Music and The Hospital for Sick Children. Meanwhile, the Telus Toronto Community Board has contributed $5.2 million to support more than 308 projects for local organizations including South Asian Autism Awareness Centre, DAREarts and Precious Minds Support Services, since its inception in 2005.