Centraide awards its Solidaires

Ten companies and organizations as well as five community agencies are honoured

MONTREAL, April 19, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ -The generous actions of companies and community agencies to fight poverty in the Montreal area were celebrated yesterday evening at the Montreal Science Centre in the presence of over 400 loyal supporters of Centraide's cause.

Ten companies, institutions and trade unions and five community agencies received a Solidaires award at Distinctions, Centraide of Greater Montreal's annual recognition event. These prizes honour efforts to support disadvantaged people. They recognize the best fundraising campaigns and the leadership of the community agencies.

The Solidaires for best Centraide campaigns were awarded to:

• Bombardier and J. Armand Bombardier Foundation (Solidaires for Overall Support)
• CAE (Solidaires for Employee Campaign - 1,000 or more employees)
• Ultramar (Solidaires for Employee Campaign - 250 to 999 employees)
• Reader's Digest (Solidaires for Employee Campaign - 249 employees or less)
• Ville de Longueuil (Solidaires for Employee Campaign - Public Sector)
• AIMIA/Aeroplan Canada (Solidaires for Employee Campaign - First Campaign)
• Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (Solidaires for Leadership Campaign - 1,000 or more employees)
• Esterline CMC Electronics (Solidaires for Leadership Campaign - 999 employees or less)
• Local 712, I.A.M.A.W. and Local 62, CAW Québec, Bombardier Aerospace (Solidaires for Trade Union Support)

In addition to the Solidaires, "Coup de Coeur" prizes were awarded to Esterline CMC Electronics and Rolls-Royce Canada (Overall Support category), Douglas Mental Health University Institute (Public Sector Campaign category) and Xerox Canada (Leadership Campaign category).

Centraide also recognized the excellence of the community agencies and the people who work there. Solidaires were presented this year to:

• 1,2,3 GO! Saint-Michel/Femmes-Relais (Solidaires Empowerment), an innovative agency that facilitates the integration of new immigrant women and their families in the Saint-Michel district.
• Rosario Demers, volunteer with the Table de concertation du Faubourg Saint-Laurent (Solidaires Citizen Involvement), a unifier who promotes dialogue among the neighbourhood's different social actors so as to ensure its harmonious development.
• Jacques Baillargeon, Executive Director and founder of Auberge du coeur l'Escalier (Solidaires Leadership), a pillar of help for youth who are homeless or in difficulty in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood.
• Volunteer Access for "The Human Chain of Volunteers of all Origins" project (Solidaires Mobilization), an event to raise awareness of volunteering among youth and the cultural communities, organized in collaboration with 12 other Montreal community agencies.
• Marie-Lyne Brunet, Executive Director of the agency Je Passe Partout (Solidaires NextGen), a true ambassador for academic perseverance in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

Centraide of Greater Montreal is an independent organization managed by a board of directors that is representative of the community. It serves the Island of Montreal, Laval and communities on the South Shore, supporting 360 community agencies and projects that help half a million vulnerable people. Centraide relies on over 73,000 volunteers, 23,000 of whom work on its annual campaign. It is supported by some 2,000 businesses and corporations, institutions, and public and parapublic organizations as well as large trade unions.

N.B.: For more information on the prizewinners (community agencies and corporations) and for the jury membership lists, please visit www.centraide-mtl.org. Also, videos of the winners are posted on Centraide's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/CentraideMtl.

For further information:

Annick Gagnon, Public Relations Coordinator 514 288-1261, ext. 242, [e-mail]