TORONTO – Q107’s John Derringer announced that over $530,000 has been raised during the station’s “13 Days of Christmas” campaign in support of The Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness and The Martin Kruze Memorial Fund.
In just 13 days, the campaign generated over $530,000.00 in donations, including over $252,177.00 in cash and an additional $277,392.00 in products and services. More than 1,100 people and 175 companies contributed to the cause.
The tally was announced Tuesday morning at a special edition “Breakfast With Derringer” broadcast at The Hard Rock Café in downtown Toronto. At this event, a donation was presented in the amount of $50,000 by Susan Zikman Wise of KRG Children’s Charities, an organization committed to the prevention of child abuse. This donation will make KRG Children’s Charities the Founding Sponsor of The Canadian Centre For Abuse Awareness Public Safety Program which will be launched in January 2006.
“We’re astounded once again by the generosity of the Q107 listener,” said Derringer. This is another truly amazing result and we thank all the businesses, community groups and especially the individuals who stepped up and contributed in any way whatsoever to this year’s campaign. The money, products and services that were donated not only bring much needed Christmas cheer to many people who have suffered unspeakable abuse in their formative years but also provide year round assistance to the prevention and victim support programs that are the cornerstones to this great charitable organization.”
“Derringers 13 Days of Christmas” features Derringer reading real life stories on-air, each highlighting a Christmas dream from a deserving child who has suffered from some form of serious abuse. Q107 listeners called a toll free line to help Derringer raise enough funds to grant each child’s Christmas dream.
In total, 52 dreams were realized over the 13 days.
A typical example is Tina, an abused 16 year old high school student, forced to leave her parents home. Remarkably, She has managed to attend class everyday at her local high school, despite the fact that she has been living in an unfinished home on a construction site. Thanks to the generosity of the Q107 listeners, her dream of having her own safe place to live with small appliances to cook on will be realized.
Throughout the campaign, Individuals and corporations responded to these stories with cash donations and gifts like bikes, toys, hockey equipment, clothing, microwaves, toaster ovens and many other items. To date, 85 families have been assisted this Christmas as a result of these efforts. More than 25 local agencies and shelters will also benefit from the donations.
In the past three years, over $ 1.7 million has been raised by Q107 in support of The Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness.
Last Wednesday, Q107 also announced that proceeds from the sale of “ A Christmas Smile”, the new song released this week by afternoon drive DJ and Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell would also benefit the CCAA. The song is available for download at puretracks.com as of this Tuesday December 20th for just 99 cents with all proceeds donated to The Canadian Centre For Abuse Awareness.
The Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness advocates for victims of childhood abuse and provides assistance to survivor support agencies, programs, and scholarships for men and women. Their commitment is to policy reform that will enhance public safety and reduce the likelihood of others being victimized. CCAA provides child abuse prevention programs, child identification, and education tools for children and their parents. In addition they grant dreams for abused and neglected women and children who are living in shelters at Christmas time.
