Media Advisory - RBC Brings VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY to SickKids
December 17, 2009

TORONTO, Dec. 17 /CNW/ - The faces of patients, families and staff at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) will shine brighter this holiday season when RBC proudly brings to the hospital the Olympic Flame. SickKids patients, their families and staff will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of history as the flame comes through Toronto on its cross-Canada journey. RBC-selected torchbearer, Stephanie Belanger, a social worker in the Department of Psychiatry at SickKids, is representing the more than 100,000 patients treated at the hospital each year and the more than 7,000 staff dedicated to improving the lives of children.

    
    What:    Interview/photo opportunity with SickKids Patient Ambassadors
             and their families

    Who:     Stephanie Belanger, 2010 Olympic Torchbearer (please note she
             will only be available pre-event)
             Members of Team SickKids - World Transplant Games participants
             (in uniforms bearing medals)
             Jennifer Tory, Regional President, Greater Toronto Region, RBC
             Royal Bank
             Dr. Abel Ickowicz, Psychiatrist-in-Chief, SickKids
             Bilaal Rajan, 2010 Olympic Torchbearer, Youth Philanthropist

    When:    Thursday, December 17, 2009
             5:15pm - Media check-in
             5:30pm - 6:45pm - Event
             * Torch on-site for 10 minutes

    Where:   The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) - Atrium
             * Please enter at Elizabeth St. entrance and proceed to media
             check-in table to present media identification
    

Approximately 12,000 Canadians will carry the Olympic Flame across the country with millions more cheering and supporting them. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay began its journey to Vancouver on October 30, 2009, when the flame arrived in Victoria following a traditional lighting ceremony in Greece. The Olympic Flame is now travelling from coast to coast to coast through every province and territory in Canada - spanning 45,000 kilometers and over 1,000 communities over the course of 106 days. It will end at B.C. Place on February 12, 2010, with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, signaling the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

As Canada's longest-standing supporter of the Canadian Olympic Team since 1947, RBC is a Premier National Partner of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and proud to bring the Olympic Spirit to communities across Canada as presenting partner of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.

Established in 1972, SickKids Foundation is the fundraising organization for The Hospital for Sick Children - Canada's most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children's health in the country. The Foundation's fundraising is driven by the belief that improving the health and wellbeing of children is one of the most powerful ways to improve society.

For further information: Judy Dobbs, Director of Communications, RBC, [phone] or [email protected]; Lori Hacker, Public Affairs, SickKids Foundation, [email protected], [phone]x2040, c: [phone]