On Giving Tuesday (November 28, 2023), our Burnaby team participated in the annual CKNW Kids’ Fund Pledge Day charity event! Every year, this long-standing radiothon brings in millions of dollars by phone and online donations. This fundraising event goes towards supporting BC kids and their families as they navigate various health challenges. This includes providing grants for specialized medical equipment, therapies, and programs for at-risk youth. Visit here to learn more or donate.
We were able to send a team of five volunteers to help answer the phones to raise funds for the CKNW Kids’ Fund. Houle also donated $5,000 and Lori Podnevar was interviewed live on-air about Houle’s involvement, which you can hear in the video above. In total, the event raised more than $3.3 million for the important work of the CKNW Kids’ Fund, topping the previous record of $2.7 million set last year. Read the news article here.
Overall, we’re proud to support this important cause and the communities where we live, work, and play.
About CKNW
Since 1945, CKNW Kids’ Fund has granted millions of dollars to support hundreds of thousands of children with different challenges. Through the generosity of organizations and communities, they helped families by providing grants for essential specialized medical equipment, therapies, and programs for at-risk youth.
We had a blast participating alongside 38 teams in this year’s 2023 Champion of the Crescent paddleboard race, both as a Fun Zone Sponsor and as a competing team. Congrats to the Surrey Fire Fighters for winning the well-deserved first place! As for our team, we won the best team tent for our Hawaiian Houle-a theme. Additionally, we came in a close second place for our creative team outfit.
Now in its fourth year, this annual event, hosted by the Surrey Hospitals Foundation, raises awareness and funds to support youth mental health and this year raised a record total of $265,200! Proceeds will go towards important youth mental health initiatives including the new Child and Youth Mental Health Transition Team, and specialty therapy programs that will help bridge hospital and community services and provide better care for the community.
At Houle, our purpose is to create opportunity, enrich lives, and bring communities to life. This means caring about the people that share their lives with us. We understand the importance of supporting youth mental health as it empowers future generations. Together, we can work to create a brighter future where young individuals can thrive, succeed, and prioritize wellbeing.
A big thanks to Surrey Hospitals Foundation for hosting another successful event and for bringing us together to stand up for youth mental health.
To read more, visit https://www.surreyhospitalsfoundation.com/blog/champion-of-the-crescent-raises-265200-for-youth-mental-health-programs-in-surrey/
We care about the communities where we live, work, and play and when we received an emergency call from Santa just three days before the annual tree light-up at Uptown Shopping Centre in Victoria, we knew we needed to help. Attended by many, the annual tree light-up is a cherished event. Determined not to let the community down, we managed to commission the Cottage just one day before the tree lit up, making it possible for Santa’s Cottage to open.
For service requests, contact us today.
By: Ashley Moliere, Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia
Eight-year-old twins Savanna and Kaylee Morris both live with cerebral palsy. They have been members of the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC for five years. Both girls have also been recipients of our camp scholarships for three years. Their mother, Nicole Morris, credits their time at therapy camp as helping the girls grow and become more confident in their abilities. Nicole says that the girls attend the therapy camp with three other girls with cerebral palsy each year and love to interact with other kids just like them.
They look forward to the camp every year which is incredible.
Nicole also says that the girls are able to learn functional mobility skills while participating in fun activities. One big highlight from last year was Savanna being able to take her first independent steps at camp.
Without donors like Houle, stories like these might not be possible. Houle has shown their commitment to the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC with their generous contributions to our programs. Houle’s contributions have allowed us to increase the number of kids we can help send to camp each year. We are able to continue to provide scholarships so that students with cerebral palsy or other disabilities can attend university and college. These donations allow us to fund programs and services so that kids like Savanna and Kaylee can reach their full potential and live a Life Without Limits.
We’re honoured to participate in Jeans Day 2018 to support the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF). Through our donation and social media campaign, we raised a record-high donation of $19,000 for BCCHF. At Houle, we’re committed to giving back to our community and supporting important initiatives like Jeans Day.
Visit our community page to read more about our charitable giving initiatives.
Houle proudly participated in the CKNW Orphans’ Fund Pledge Day. Our employees were up early to help answer the calls for the pledge CKNW campaign. With our employee fundraising and corporate matching, we contributed $10,000 to support children with special needs.
Visit our community page to read more about our charitable giving initiatives.
We are thrilled to announce that our 2017 Jeans Day Campaign, supporting the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, raised a total of $17,600! We are grateful to all our employees who generously contributed $8,478.00. With corporate matching, the final fundraising total came to $16,956. Additionally, our social media campaign received ‘likes’ and ‘shares’, which raised $644. Thanks to everyone who supported our Jeans Day initiative for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Visit our community page to read more about our charitable giving initiatives.
In collaboration with the Construction Foundation of BC, we’re proud to present our donation of $10,000 to Britannia Secondary School to aid in the revitalization of their trades classrooms.
Houle President, Robert Lashin, an alumnus of the school himself presented the donation to the students and faculty at Britannia. Robert who had graduated from the highschool in 1967, shared his story of his days at the school and the motivation he received from his counsellor to persevere and stay the course even through challenging subjects, an experience he attributes to the success he and the Houle organization have enjoyed many years later. He went on to enlighten the students he addressed about the rewarding career that the trades can present and how a red seal certificate can often times lead to a very lucrative financial future.
Congratulations to the Tsawwassen Blues U17 girls’ soccer team for becoming this year’s provincial champions! We are proud to continue supporting amazing sports teams like the Blues.
Community is important to us and recently, the Victoria office supported two great organizations in their time of need.
Here’s what our Security Technician Richard Yeates recounts:
The Clements Centre and Sundrops Centre in Duncan offer support services for persons and children with developmental disabilities. The Clements Center focuses on community living and inclusion for adults living within the Cowichan Valley. Sundrops provides referral-based services dedicated to assisting childhood development for the younger generation. Having a son with Down Syndrome, the combined efforts of these support services means a great deal to my family.
We learned that the Centres (which share a common building) had unfortunately been the victims of a break-in. They needed a CCTV system to improve their existing security measures as a response to the incident.
After hearing news of the incident, our Victoria managers decided to approach the centre with an offer to assist. The curator warmly accepted our offer.
We provided the Centres with a professionally installed IP CCTV system, complete with NVR and 4 strategically located IP cameras. The system encompasses remote connection capabilities and network control that users can manage through their existing PC’s. The labour was donated by the technicians (on a weekend to avoid conflict with the Centres’ patrons), and Houle donated permits and extraneous supplies.