THANKSGIVING FOOD DROP: HAMILTON ON

Saturday October 9, 2010

On Saturday October 9^th, for third year in a row, FTC Canada, Marwan Hage and Hage’s Heroes, the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Caravan Logistics distributed Family Food Boxes to families in need in The City of Hamilton on the Thanksgiving weekend holiday.

Eight distribution partners joined forces to serve the families in need including , Eva Rothwell Centre, Hamilton East Kiwanis Boys’ & Girls’ Club, The Hamilton Dream Center, Hughson Street Baptist Church, King’s Way Blessing Centre, West Hamilton Wrap Around, and City Kidz.

Weighing approximately 30 pounds, the Family Food Box can provide a family of 4 with enough food for about three days.  In the 1000 boxes distributed or alongside, were quality products from our Corporate Partners: Nestle Waters, Oakrun Bakery, Advantage Packaging, and Zellers Fairview Mall (St. Catharines).  MacNabb Presbyterian Church also provided food for the boxes.

Each agency identified children and families in need and distributed a voucher to be exchanged for a Family Food Box.  It turned out to be a great day: cool autumn air, clear skies and warm sun. 

Over 30 volunteers from Oakville based Caravan Logistics provided support for the day. Caravan Logistics also donated a truck and driver to transport the food boxes from the FTC Canada warehouse in Guelph to Ivor Wynn Stadium in Hamilton.

Marwan Hage and several Tiger Cat players joined Caravan volunteers to hand out the family food boxes and the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Compass Group supplied BBQ hot dogs for 500 children at the event.

Last year FTC Canada shipped over $1,000,000 of food and other essentials into the city of Hamilton partnering with agencies working directly with families in need of food.

FAMILY FOOD BOX DISTRIBUTION: THUNDER BAY

Thursday July 8, 2010

Eagles Cry Life Centre in Thunder Bay is distributing 350 food boxes and 350 hygiene boxes to needy families in partnership with FTC Canada.

The distribution will take place at An Eagles Cry Life Centre on 100 Simpson Street in Thunder Bay, ON today (centre founder Sky Hedricks in photo). Volunteers and staff from Eagles Cry will hand out the food boxes (approx. 22 pounds) along with boxes of personal hygiene products.

FTC Canada partners with organizations and companies throughout Canada to provide food and supplies to those in need. Recipients are identified by local social service organizations and receive a food voucher which they redeem at the event. FTC Canada First Nations Camp team will run a children’s program during the event. FTC Canada runs summer camps in Mishkeegogamang and King Fisher Reserves.

"THE SCHOOL IS NO LONGER UNDER THREAT OF CLOSURE"

June 9, 2010

Guelph, Ontario – “The school is no longer under threat of closure….” Those were the words shared by the Head Master of Equator Primary School last week during the commissioning of a brand new set of latrine/toilets just outside Nairobi, Kenya.

In October 2009 it was brought to FTC Canada’s attention that the Nairobi School Board was prepared to shut down Equator Primary School due to the unsafe conditions of the school’s bathrooms unless new ones were built. FTC Canada then called its latrine building partner Connecting Countries and asked if they could take on funding this additional project and they did. Building began in January 2010 and last week the latrines were completed. Three-hundred students now have clean, safe latrines and most importantly will not be forced out of their school.

FTC Canada would like to thank their partner Connecting Countries for their ongoing commitment towards helping provide African students with outstanding learning conditions.

To learn more please visit www.connectingcountries.net

CONCORD HOSPITALITY TEAMS UP WITH FTC CANADA FOR SHARE DAY 2010

May 25, 2010

Toronto, ON – Thanks to the hard work and generosity of 10 Toronto area hotels, 400 local area families received much needed food and supplies this past week.

Over 25 hotel staff were on hand at Rexdale Alliance Church on May 20th in Etobicoke, ON to volunteer their time to distribute the food boxes packed by FTC Canada. This was all part of Share Day 2010, which is organized by the hotels parent company Concord Hospitality Enterprises. Toronto was one of 7 North American cities that participated in the company’s 2nd Annual Share Day which saw 3,500 families receive food and supplies across Canada and the U.S.

The GTA hotels that participated in this year’s event were the Crowne Plaza Hamilton, Courtyard by Marriott Hamilton, Courtyard by Marriott Markham, Courtyard by Marriott Mississauga Airport/Corporate Centre West, Courtyard by Marriott Mississauga/Meadowvale, Courtyard by Marriott Vaughan, Residence Inn Markham, Residence Inn Mississauga Airport/Corporate Centre West, Residence Inn Mississauga/Meadowvale, and Residence Inn Vaughan.

To learn more about Concord Hospitality Enterprises and the over 70 hotels they manage please visit www.concordhotels.com

VOLUNTEERS LAY FOUNDATION IN EL SALVADOR

May 5th, 2010

Guelph, Ontario – 3,600 square feet of foundation, pillars, and walls was laid for the community of Amatitan, El Salvador this past April.

The trip was organized by Guelph based charity FTC Canada who sent down 9 volunteers to begin the rebuilding of a condemned feeding centre and homes for families who had lost theirs in a recent flood.

The team left on Saturday April 17th and began work the next day. The foundation had to be set, a concrete floor was laid, walls were erected and tables for the kitchen were built. The centre is a 20 by 40 ft concrete stable building that has a patio, kitchen, and washroom. Three of the four homes were started by the team with one of them reaching full completion. The homes themselves are close to 700 sq. ft. and are all scheduled to be completed by the summer.

“We are so grateful to our team of volunteers.” says Ken Dick, President of FTC Canada. “It’s an amazing thing for us and the community of Amatitan to have dedicated people like our volunteers give their time and energy towards this building project”

This is the first an FTC Canada construction team has sent overseas and the organization is planning for more in the future. FTC Canada would like to thank our volunteers Clive Ward-Able, Helen and John McGillivray, Jeff Mander, Robyn Tomaney, Rick Olazabal, Eduardo de Abreu, Lynda Quinn and John Sprawson as well as 5th Business Marketing and Labtician Ophthalmics Inc. for their commitment to helping improve the lives of children around the world.

PASTA AND SAUCE TO FEED THOUSANDS IN HAITI

April 6, 2010

Pasta, tomatoes and sauce en route to feed thousands in Haiti

Guelph, Ontario – Tuesday, April 6, 2010 – Over the next two weeks $84,700 worth of donated product is being shipped on 4 containers out of FTC Canada’s Guelph based warehouse and bound for Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The first two containers will have 75,000 lbs of spaghetti, penne, and linguini from Concord, ON based Unico Inc. The second two containers heading out next week will have 93,770 lbs of canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and sardines from Toronto based Primo Foods. The containers are scheduled to arrive in early May and will go to feeding thousands of children and their families who are still without homes.

“Canned and dry products are ideal for overseas work and will be of great help in Haiti.” says Cliff Cline, COO of FTC Canada. "We are extremely grateful to the people at Unico and Primo for generously supporting our ongoing relief efforts there."

Since the January 12th earthquake, FTC Canada will have sent more than $560,000 worth of food, supplies and medicine in 13 containers to Haiti. To learn more about our ongoing efforts please visit www.ftccanada.ca

SPIRIT DAY RAISES FUNDS FOR HAITI

April 5, 2010

Spirit day raises funds for Haiti.

Caledonia, Ontario – Monday, April 5, 2010 – 200 students from St. Patrick’s School in Caledonia, ON celebrated the spirit of Canada by raising $1,400 for Haiti relief.

As a way to show support for Canadians at the Olympic Games the school organized a “Spirit Day” where students dressed up in red and white and raised funds to help send packages of dry soup to children like them who are in desperate need.

“I am truly inspired and proud to be apart of the St. Patrick's School community in Caledonia.” says Denis Shaw, a mother of two students at St. Patrick’s and a nurse who traveled to Haiti last month. “The students did an amazing job in doing what they can to help.”

The funds raised by the school are helping pay for the shipment of dried soup pouches which left on a container for Haiti this week. FTC Canada has sent 6 containers of food and supplies to Haiti and has two more scheduled to leave in April.

To learn more please visit www.ftccanada.ca.

FTC CANADA FOOD DROP IN MONTREAL

March 1, 2010

Keltic Transportation Inc. teams up with the Hamilton Tiger Cats and FTC Canada in Montreal.

Guelph, Ontario – Monday, March 1, 2010 – For the second year in a row Keltic Transportation Inc. teamed up with Hamilton Tiger-Cat Offensive Lineman Marwan Hage and Guelph based not-for-profit FTC Canada to provide food and hygiene boxes to 450 families in need through Sun Youth Organization in downtown Montreal.


The Moncton based full load transportation company generously donated its services to bring the 900 boxes from FTC’s Guelph warehouse to Sun Youth’s downtown Montreal warehouse where the food and hygiene boxes were distributed to the families last week. Marwan Hage, a Montreal resident and 2009 CFL All-Star and Tom Pate Award winner was on hand to distribute the boxes personally to the families as part of his Hage’s Heroes program.

“Keltic’s success is based on teamwork in a family atmosphere,” says Shane Esson, General Manager at Keltic “and we are extremely proud to once again partner with FTC Canada and Marwan Hage to help with their transportation needs by bringing much needed food and supplies to the families in Montreal.”

Last May the three groups partnered together and distributed food boxes to Montreal families as part of FTC Canada’s food box distribution program which in 2009 distributed over 2,800 boxes to families in Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, and Winnipeg.

To learn more about Keltic Transportation please visit www.keltictransportation.com.

CLICK HERE to see this story at the Hamilton TiCats website

CLICK HERE to see this story at Truck News

AQUADECO & UNISYNC DONATE TO HAITI RELIEF

January 28, 2010

Aquadeco Natural Spring Water and Unisync Group donate to Haiti relief. 

As a part of FTC Canada’s Haiti relief efforts, Aquadeco Natural Spring Water has generously donated over 65,000 bottles of water and Unisync Group has donated 12 skids of clothing to the children and families devastated by the recent earthquake.

Cliff Cline, COO says “There is an immediate and ongoing need for water and clothing in Haiti and we are extremely thankful to have a partners like Aquadeco and Unisync Group supporting our ongoing relief efforts.”

FTC Canada's emergency medical team returned home on January 27th after 7 days in Port-au-Prince.  FTC is now procuring supplies to send over on containers to Haiti.  Shipments are scheduled to leave next month.

NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH ORTHOTIC BUSINESSES TO HELP HAITI

January 28, 2010

The devastation in Haiti has impacted all of us in many different ways. The professionals at Milton Orthotic and Wellness Centre, in conjunction with Burlington Orthotic Centre and Mississauga Orthotic Centre have come together with FTC Canada to start a gently used shoe and bracing drive. Please bring your gently used footwear or bracing supplies to either of the three clinics and FTC Canada will ensure they reach needy Haitians in the coming months.

www.miltonorthoticwellness.com  905-864-0555
www.burlingtonorthotics.com  905-331-4391
Mississauga Orthotic Centre: 905-696-8244

2K/5K FUNd RUN FOR HAITI

Port Perry, ON

Church of the Ascension, Port Perry, along with local residents, are joining together on Sat. Jan. 30 for a “FUNd Run For Haiti”, a two or five kilometer "run, walk or crawl" to raise funds for FTC Canada’s Haiti Earthquake Relief.

FTC Canada, a relief and development organization active in Haiti prior to the devastating earthquake, is present there now distributing emergency rations, shelter and providing medical care.

Two local Port Perry doctors, along with 11 paramedics, arrived in Haiti on January 20th. Dr. Tony Brown, Medical Advisor for FTC Canada, and Dr. Paul Puckrin, have joined the agency’s team on the ground to help deliver medical care at a hospital in the heart of Port-au-Prince.

”We knew that we wanted to do something for the people of Haiti. A “FUNd Run” felt like a positive and practical way to raise some much needed money for their cause. It's easy to feel helpless watching all the news footage, but we can use our communal strength to work together and show our support.  It's so great to know that through this FUNd run our community will be helping the people of Haiti and supporting the work of FTC and our local Doctors who are there right now,” says Angela Connolly, one of the run organizers.

Organizers encourage all to participate.  “The course can be completed by running, walking, with strollers and pets or even cross-country skiing. Bring your family. Bring your grandparents. Just get involved,” stresses Connolly. To enter the run organizers are accepting pledge sheet and credit card donations, both of which can be found on the website www.portperryrun.ca

The run begins at 10:00 am at Community Living Durham North in Port Perry, Ontario (16025 Old Simcoe Road, corner of Reach and Old Simcoe) Registration is open after 9am. Food and beverages will be available for a donation.

To register visit www.portperryrun.ca

APOTEX DONATES PHARMACEUTICALS TO FTC CANADA'S HAITI RELIEF

January 21, 2010

In support of FTC Canada’s Haiti relief efforts, Apotex Inc. generously donated thousands of antibiotics and analgesics which flew on board with our emergency response medical team.

FTC Canada was one of three relief organizations who received help in the form of medicines from Apotex. The Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company donated close to $2 million dollars worth of their products which will help save lives.

"Our employees and management wanted to help, and it was the right thing to do. We have a tradition of providing assistance around the globe when disasters occur." stated Mr. Jack Kay, President & COO of Apotex Inc.

FTC Canada’s emergency response medical team arrived in Port-au-Prince on January 20^th and have already begun working in the heart of the city. FTC will continue to make efforts to get supplies and funds to Haiti in the days and weeks to come.

KOM NETWORKS PARTNERS WITH FTC CANADA

KOM Networks’ Junk-A-Juke program responds to the needs of Canadian children and Haitian Relief efforts through FTC Canada

Ottawa, Canada – January 20, 2010 – On the heels of announcing its Junk-A-Juke program, KOM Networks™, world leading provider of storage management solutions for secure archiving compliant data protection and retention, today announces the expansion of its Junk-A-Juke program to benefit many of the 900,000 Canadian children being helped by FTC Canada, an affiliate of Feed The Children U.S.

This unique program collects and recycles obsolete and legacy storage equipment and donates the money generated to provide food, shelter, medicine and other necessities to little ones and their families. In exchange for the older equipment, KOM offers a new Dell Powered KOMpliance Archive with equal capacity and superior performance, a fully compliant enterprise class server and archive solution free-of-charge with a three year maintenance agreement. KOM’s goal is to collect and recycle enough hardware to feed one million children!

FTC Canada has responded by landing this morning at 8 am a medical emergency response team of 3 doctors and 11 paramedics in Port au Prince. They have with them much needed medicines and supplies to continue to save lives right in the heart of the devastation. Over the coming weeks and months FTC will continue to send teams, supplies and food to provide relief to Haiti. For the next 90 days, all proceeds from equipment collected and recycled as part of the Junk-A-Juke program will be donated to FTC Canada to assist them with their Haitian relief efforts. “Even though you may not be able to do something directly to help the earthquake victims, you can still help in kind to those who can,” says Ken Dick, president FTC Canada.

“We’re proud to include FTC Canada in our recycling for charity program and provide assistance to children in our own backyard,” says Kamel Shaath, CTO at KOM Networks. “The recent images of devastation and chaos are heartfelt and very moving. We feel strongly that we have to do something and help. We are pleased to join the FTC Canada Haiti Relief efforts. We have already collected multiple end-of-life optical jukeboxes and other data storage devices and anticipate many more of our business partners will contribute, knowing that they are helping kids and making a difference.”

For more information about the Junk-A-Juke program and how you can join us to make a big difference for someone small, contact us at 1-800-668-1777, sales@komnetworks.com, or visit our website KOMNetworks.com.

About KOM Networks

KOM Networks is the world leading provider of flexible, secure data archiving and storage management software. Over 10,000 of the world’s leading corporations have recognized KOM Networks as the most logical, unobtrusive and secure way to store, access and protect their data. KOM is enabling enterprises large and small a cost effective way to improve productivity and meet compliance requirements without altering their network infrastructure or daily business routines. The industry pioneer holds vital industry patents for electronic file lifecycle management, virtual file management and eWORM fixed content hard disk archiving. For additional information about KOM Networks, please visit www.komnetworks.com.

Press Contact

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