VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 24, 2017) - Vancouver's annual kick-off to the holiday season has been saved by TELUS.
The Vancouver Santa Claus Parade has been one of British Columbia's most cherished holiday traditions for more than 13 years, drawing more than 300,000 spectators to downtown Vancouver each year, plus numerous viewers at home. The parade was at risk of being cancelled this year due to a lack of sponsorship funding from previous donors, and organizers were in need of $150,000. When TELUS learned the parade was at risk of cancellation and in need of a presenting sponsor, the company stepped up to cover the shortfall, ensuring that the parade will go on.
Each year, about 60 community and corporate entries and floats, 2,700 participants, and more than 300 volunteers converge on the streets of downtown Vancouver to produce the popular parade.
TELUS presents the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade begins at noon on Sunday, December 3. The parade route begins in the West End and moves toward downtown on West Georgia Street, then turns down Howe Street at the Vancouver Art Gallery. As in previous years, two-hours of family entertainment will also be presented at Christmas Square prior to the parade.
"We're so thrilled that the parade will continue and we really want to thank TELUS for stepping up to help us continue this great community event uninterrupted for a 14 th straight year," said Vancouver Santa Claus Parade Society President Jessica Walker. "With the parade now officially a 'go', we'll be getting in touch right away with all the organizations and sponsors who put all the great entries in the parade, and we encourage anyone interested in joining us in the parade to contact us right away."
Interested sponsors are invited to call 604-646-3591 or email vansantaparade@pacegroup.com for more information.
TELUS has a longstanding history of supporting local grassroots organizations, particularly those that empower youth, in its home province of British Columbia and across Canada. In 2016 alone, TELUS gave more than $42 million to charitable organizations, and its team members and retirees volunteered more than 870,000 hours. Last month, TELUS announced it has committed to giving $10 million to local organizations throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. Inspired by their philosophy to Give Where We Live and in honour of Canada's 150 th birthday, TELUS' team members and retirees have pledged to donate more than one million volunteer hours in the communities where they live, work and serve. To date, TELUS team members have recorded more than 500,000 volunteer hours in 2017. To learn more, visit telus.com/millionhours .
"At TELUS, we give where we live to help people in need in local communities all across Canada," said Jill Schnarr, Vice-President, Community and Media Relations, "Because Vancouver is our home, we received overwhelming encouragement from our customers and our team members to help save the 2017 Santa Claus Parade. This long standing tradition in our beautiful city helps knit our diverse communities together, celebrating how we are all connected during a very special time of the year. It also enables us to work together to address critical social issues in our community by helping the Greater Vancouver Food Bank to collect supplies for their shelves and feed families in need during the holidays. We're pleased to be able to partner with the parade to help those in our community who need it the most."
Since its inception, Vancouver Santa Claus Parade has supported the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, a non-profit organization that provides healthy food to more than 28,000 people each week. Each year, the parade encourages spectators to bring a monetary or food donation for the Food Bank. With the support of sponsors and parade spectators, the parade collects thousands of dollars and thousands of pounds of food for the numerous local families the Food Bank supports. TELUS is a long-time supporter of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, and since 2000 has provided more than $1 million in donations in addition to many thousands of volunteer hours during TELUS Days of Giving each spring, and throughout the year. For every food item donated to the Food Bank between now and December 3, TELUS will donate $1 up to $20,000.
"The Vancouver Santa Claus Parade does a tremendous amount of work each year to help raise awareness of the impact of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, as we kick off the holiday season," said Aart Schuurman Hess, CEO, Greater Vancouver Food Bank. "We're thrilled that the annual Vancouver Santa Claus Parade will continue this year, and commend all of the sponsors, partners and organizers for coming together in support of this important event, and thank all involved for choosing the Food Bank as its main beneficiary. We encourage the public to come out, celebrate the holiday season, and bring a nutritious, non-perishable food item or a monetary donation, in support of the 27,000 members that use our services each week."
TELUS presents the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade will be broadcast across the province on Global BC and BC 1, and the CKNW Orphan's Fund will have a presence at the parade. Additional sponsors include Purdys Chocolatier, Toys R Us, Island Farms, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Port of Vancouver, Starbucks and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX:T)(NYSE:TU) is Canada's fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $13 billion of annual revenue and 12.8 million subscriber connections, including 8.7 million wireless subscribers, 1.7 million high-speed Internet subscribers, 1.3 million residential network access lines and 1.1 million TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video. TELUS is also Canada's largest healthcare IT provider, and TELUS International delivers business process solutions around the globe.
In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed over $482 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 7.7 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Created in 2005 by President and CEO Darren Entwistle, TELUS' 12 Canadian community boards and 5 International boards have led the Company's support of grassroots charities and have contributed more than $60 million in support of 5,595 local charitable projects, enriching the lives of more than 2 million children and youth, annually. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.
