TORONTO – The primary headline will be the $40 million raised by Canada’s broadcasters via a pair of telethons on Friday (one in Toronto and another in French in Montreal), but there are a lot of other stories out there of companies from our industry rallying their employees or their customers to the cause.
Canada For Haiti, Friday’s one-hour, commercial-free special produced collaboratively between CBC Television, CTV and Global Television and also aired on Citytv, has raised more than $13.5 million to date for relief efforts in Haiti, it was confirmed today. (Citytv also aired its own “Help for Haiti” fundraiser back on January 17th)
When the funds are matched by the federal government, the amount increases to more than $27 million. An additional $6.7 million was raised in Quebec in a French-language telethon that ran concurrently on Friday night, bringing the overall Canadian television total with federal contributions to more than $40 million.
The French fundraiser “Ensemble Pour Haiti” could be found virtually everywhere on air in the province. TVA, SRC, V, Tele-Quebec, LCN, MusiquePlus, Musimax, Astral Radio, Corus Radio Quebec, and Haitian radio station CPAM all aired the Quebec fundraiser. Montreal is home to Canada’s largest Haitian population and more than 40 artists contributed to the broadcasts. Bell Canada and Videotron employees volunteered to take calls for those wishing to give.
However, there are many ongoing efforts from companies big and small (which we’ve been covering. Just search “Haiti” on Cartt.ca) that are collectively raising millions more for the impoverished Caribbean nation crushed by a massive earthquake.
For example:
• A Newcap Broadcasting spokesperson estimated that funds raised by company stations and donations of air time has come in at about the $750,000 mark.
• Rogers Communications text-to-donate campaign, where customers can text "HELP" to 1291 and donate $5 to ONEXONE Foundation has raised more than $300,000 (as a Rogers customer, we’ve been texting to 1291 at least once a day for a while and have given $500 to the Red Cross).
• Quebec broadcaster V is asking its clients and suppliers to contribute to the cause, on top of its contributions to the telethon.
• In Toronto, FLOW 93.5 held a one day telethon last Monday and raised just over $21,000 for Red Cross. The station got the likes of Trish Stratus, Socrates, Dwayne DeRosario, and Kardinall Offishall to lend their voices for the cause and CP24 was there covering it live for almost 2 hours.
• Equipment supplier TVC has promised to match all employee donations.
• Cogeco Inc. has donated $50,000 and is making all calls to Haiti free for customers.
• Listeners to Astral Media’s 82 radio stations raised a total of $950,000 to support Canadian Red Cross aid efforts in Haiti. This amount includes the $50,000 donation Astral Media corporate announced.
• Shaw is also making calls to the country free and has donated $100,000. As well, the company has promised to double any of its employees donations. So a Shaw employee donating $100 will see it brought to $300 by the company and then bumped to $600 when the federal government’s matches it as promised.
• Bell Aliant has made a $25,000 corporate donation to the Canadian Red Cross and is encouraging employees to donate through links to the Red Cross in employee messages. As well, Bell Aliant Pioneer Volunteers in Newfoundland and Labrador – the company’s active employee/retiree volunteer organization -will match member donations up to a total of $10,000. The company has also been promoting the Mobility text messaging option for donations to the Salvation Army and have put satellite phones on the Royal Canadian Navy ships which traveled to Haiti last week to assist with their efforts.
• Bell Canada contributed immediate cash donations of $100,000 to the Canadian Red Cross Haiti Earthquake Fund and of $25,000 to UNICEF. And so far, Bell’s mobile customers (Bell Mobility, Solo, Virgin) have donated nearly $140,000 through text donations. (An updated list of the codes and of the agencies that can receive donations is available on the site of the Mobile Giving Foundation at this address: http://www.mobilegiving.ca/?page_id=44). The Red Cross and Bell have also set up a site to enable direct contributions by Bell employees to the organization. So far, more that $30,000 has been donated by our employees via that site.
• Today, Hamilton community cable channel Cable 14 is hosting a telethon to raise money for two hospitals in Haiti that have established working partnerships with Hamilton’s St. Joseph’s Health System.
• Halifax-based EastLink will also play host to a fundraiser this Sunday.
• Telus wireless customers text donations are over $65,000 so far and the company has donated $50,000 to assist in the relief efforts ($25,000 each to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army). As well, 1,500 mobile phones, adapted for use in Haiti by Telus’ wireless technicians, are being shipped to HaiTel, a telecommunications provider in Haiti. The company also donated the use of its Scarborough and Montreal call centre facilities and more than 250 employees volunteered their time, taking phone donations for during the Canada For Haiti telethon. The company also contributed $25,000 to a benefit concert and matched donations at a junior hockey game which brought in another $12,500. The company is also donating all proceeds collected from the sale of “Telus critters in its corporate stores to the Canadian Red Cross for Haiti so far representing more than $5,000.
• Haliburton Broadcasting (owners of all the Northern Ontario Moose FM stations) has a radiothon organized for Friday across all of its 13 stations.
• Fairchild Media Group is broadcasting Haitian donation Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to Chinese Canadians via its media vehicles including Fairchild Television, Talentvision and Fairchild Radio. Donations pledged are going to World Vision Canada. Free prime time spots on Fairchild Television, Talentvision and Fairchild Radio have been donated on a daily basis. Other Chinese media which have followed suit to contribute air time or print space. Together, says Fairchild, major Chinese media pledged over $200,000, which is doubled with the federal government’s matching program.
• Corus Radio stations held a national radiothon January 18th, directing their listeners to donate to the Canadian Red Cross, whose donations rose by over $5 million in the three hours of the telethon (Prime Minister Stephen Harper was on air for a bit). Corus execs want us to be sure the company doesn’t claim credit for all of that bump though.
Now, keep on giving!
