Free The Children founder Craig Kielburger signs historic partnership with Spirit of Vancouver for Haiti relief
MEDIA RELEASE
Friday, March 19, 2010
L-R: Darcy Rezac, Lorne Segal and Craig Kielburger put their names to a year's partnership agreement. All photos: D.Roels
Order of Canada recipient and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Craig Kielburger, founder, Free The Children recently returned from Haiti, signed a fund-raising partnership agreement with The Vancouver Board of Trade’s Spirit of Vancouver® program at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 19 at Spirit of Vancouver House at The Bay.
Also on hand to sign the Spirit of Vancouver 2010 Free The Children Partnership were Spirit of Vancouver co-chair Lorne Segal, president, Kingswood Properties Ltd., and Vancouver Board of Trade managing director and chief engagement officer Darcy Rezac.
The year-long partnership means that Spirit of Vancouver, a program championing community well-being, will actively raise funds to support international children’s charity Free The Children, the largest network of children helping children through education around the world. Free The Children has been active in Haiti for over a decade, having built nine schools. Funds raised through Spirit of Vancouver will help with long-term development in Haiti by providing education to displaced children, access to clean water and sanitation, health care and feeding programs, and support families through alternative income projects.
The fundraising campaign, From Desolation to Hope: Strength through Unity, will include donating partial proceeds from a brand new line of Spirit of Vancouver merchandise celebrating Spirit Canada™, such as ‘Canada’ scarves and other apparel, along with two major fund-raising events, one planned for the summer and the other in late fall.
The foundations for the partnership were laid when The Board of Trade presented Free The Children co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger with the Rix Center for Corporate Citizenship & Engaged Leadership’s Engaged Citizenship Award in May last year at a fundraiser which raised enough money to buy 908 goats for families residing in Kenya.
Lorne Segal, also a director of The Vancouver Board of Trade, then played a leading role in orchestrating Vancouver’s first We Day at GM Place last September – the largest youth empowerment event featuring the likes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and music sensation, Jason Mraz.
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Spirit of Vancouver (SOV) is a nine-year-old program of The Vancouver Board of Trade dedicated to championing community well-being in Vancouver-Metro. Through the partnership, SOV 2010 will work with Free The Children throughout the year to rally community support to help the people of Haiti. See www.spiritofvancouver.com
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, 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 across North America. Visit www.freethechildren.com to learn more.
Free the Children Partnership - Photos: Dave Roels
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