The more I learn about TELUS and the more I spend time celebrating this company I realize more and more just how outstanding they are. Not only as a service provider for our families but also helping our families, youth in need and different charities across Canada. It’s not every day that we can be amazed at companies that put back into the communities where they operate as much as TELUS does. For that I’m so proud to stand behind them!
Just recently I had the privilege to attend their “Big Announcement” and big it was. It was such an awesome day to stand alongside hundreds of people to hear what their CEO Darren had to say. The Big Announcement was TELUS is donating $120 million… 120,000,000!… to create a brand new foundation called the Friendly Future Foundation. It will be helping the vulnerable youth in our Country by providing them with a better and friendler future. Across Canada, 1.5 million kids go hungry every day, 350,000 children and youth are in some type of government care, lacking family support and oftentimes experience a traumatic transition into independent adult life, and 40 percent of low income families lack affordable access to the internet, which puts kids at risk of falling behind in school. Maybe the most heartbreaking part of hearing these stats is knowing that there are hardworking families struggling to make ends meet in our very own communities, with kids going to the same schools as our little ones.
TELUS has done their research and finds these stats unacceptable, especially since with every passing day they no doubt slowly increase, and these challenges are being faced by families in the communities where their team members live and work across Canada, just like us. To help lower these statistics TELUS is going to help provide for these children as much as they can. They have a long history of giving away multi-millions to support charities every single year, and through this new foundation they will be giving grants to grassroots charities that help children in need. Their $120 million donation to create the foundation is the biggest donation ever made by a publicly traded company in Canadian history, making it no wonder why TELUS has been named the most giving company in the world.
In the last two decades TELUS, their team members and retirees have contributed more than 1 billion through $530 million in financial support and super impressively, 1.2 million days of volunteerism. Can you imagine that? 1.2 million days – like full days – of volunteering! I love that they not only want to lend a hand financially, but also know that these smaller charities usually need help on the ground too with manpower and volunteer time. The Friendly Future Foundation will complement existing TELUS programs like Internet for Good which gives low-income families discounted internet service, Mobility For Good which gives kids coming out of foster care free cell phone plans so they can stay connected to their support network, and Health For Good, which brings mobile clinics (like a doctor’s office in a van) to at-risk communities who don’t have easy access to healthcare.
Being able to hear this all in person, literally made me feel so emotional. It’s a really big thing to have a company be so unselfish and think about others that need it most around us. It isn’t just about a service provider, it’s about a company that really believes they can only be good in
business if they’re doing good in the community, and are always helping others in need. Facts are facts and the more we listen to them and understand them the more we learn to understand the value of helping others and giving back.
If you know a charity, however small, that could use a hand up, let them know they can visit friendlyfuture.com to fill out an application form. The Friendly Future Foundation board will be combing through each and every application to make sure none of them go unnoticed!
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{Disclosure this post was sponsored post as part of an collaboration program, however all opinions are my own}
Keisha Lynne, xx