MONTREAL, July 11, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Air Canada Foundation sixth annual golf tournament netted over $1,100,000 in support of organizations focused on health and well-being of children in Canada.  The tournament was held Monday, July 10 at the Saint Raphaël Golf Club, Québec, and featured close to 300 golfers from across North America. It included a full day of golf followed by a cocktail-style dinner, silent and live auctions of items donated by tournament partners and Air Canada Foundation supporters.

"The overwhelming generosity of Air Canada's partners and friends has once again ensured the success of the Air Canada Foundation Golf Tournament signature event raising over a million one hundred dollars," said Priscille LeBlanc, Chair of the Air Canada Foundation. "We also appreciate the tireless work of Air Canada employee volunteers who helped organize and facilitate the sell-out event thereby allowing the funds raised to be directly reinvested towards the health and well-being of children. On behalf of all the children and their families whose lives are touched by the Foundation, I thank our loyal sponsors, participants and volunteers for their on-going generosity and support."

AIMIA returned as Presenting Partner of this year's event which was supported by more than 100 Canadian, American and international corporations and organizations.

This year's Patron of Honours are:

To view other supporters, please visit: www.aircanada.com/foundation.

To mark this year's annual golf tournament and its longstanding partnership of over 25 years, the Air Canada Foundation was proud to make a $ 200 000 donation to Dreams Take Flight the Air Canada employee and retiree led charitable foundation which enables thousands of children with physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds from across Canada to experience an all-expense paid day at Disney. Three of their ambassadors, William, Jordan and Samara played an important role during the day by manning the highly coveted lemonade stand, enticing golfers with refreshments while raising funds for the Foundation: www.aircanada.com/foundation.

To celebrate this special occasion, a video was featured during the event to showcase through the eyes and hearts of children and their parents how the Air Canada Foundation has helped children in need. The new video launched on social media yesterday is now live on www.youtube.com/aircanada and will be featured on board Air Canada flights in the coming months.

As a registered not-for-profit organization, the Air Canada Foundation's mission is to help connect sick children to the medical care they need, grant children's wishes and alleviate child poverty.

In 2016, the Air Canada Foundation granted over $4.8M (financial and in-kind) to support of Canadian registered charities. Funds were donated to programs or projects submitted by eligible registered charitable organizations in line with the Air Canada Foundation's mission. More information is available at www.aircanada.com/foundation.

Financial donations:

In 2016, the Air Canada Foundation provided financial support for a total amount of $1,417,535 to 45 registered charities across Canada including:

• Breakfast Clubs of Canada
• 14 Canadian pediatric hospitals, members of the Children's Miracle Network
• Dreams Take Flight Canada
• Camp Oochigeas
• Starlight Children's Foundation Canada
• Choices for Kids
• Jack.org
• Fondation Yvon Deschamps Centre-sud
• Canadian Red Cross
• Suicide Action Montréal
• Canadian Hemophilia Society of New Brunswick
• Covenant House
• Fondation Jovia
• Cystic Fibrosis Canada
• Reach for the rainbow
• Children's Aid Foundation

In-Kind Support

• Aircraft for eight Dreams Take Flight trips from across Canada (Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vancouver) for a magical day at Disney.
• One thousand one hundred round trip airline tickets were donated to more than 350 charitable organizations in support to their fundraising initiatives.
• Partnership with the RCMP Child Recovery Program to ensure the safe return of missing children.
• The Air Canada Foundation Hospital Transportation Program donated over 6,5 million Aeroplan Miles to 15 pediatric hospitals across Canada allowing children to access medical care not available in their own communities.
• The Air Canada Foundation Volunteer Involvement Program, which was designed to recognize the active involvement of employees in their own communities, awarded a pair of airline tickets to 89 charitable organizations for their fundraising events.

The charitable organizations supported by the Volunteer Involvement Program include:

• BC – Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Canada
• AB – Banff Food Bank Society
• AB – Tooth Fairy Children's Foundation
• MB – Winnipeg Harvest
• MB – Manitoba Riding for the Disabled Association Inc.
• ON – Variety Village
• ON – Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
• QC – Anorexia and Bulimia Quebec
• QC – Fondation Tel-Jeunes
• NB – St-Joseph Hospital Foundation
• NL – Young Adult Cancer Canada
• NL – Glenn's Helping Hand

About the Air Canada Foundation

The Air Canada Foundation, a not-for-profit organization focused on the health and well-being of children and youth, was launched in 2012. It offers both financial and in-kind support, through travel assistance, to Canadian registered charities.  Core programs include the Hospital Transportation Program which donates Aeroplan Miles to pediatric hospitals across Canada enabling children to access medical care unavailable locally and the Volunteer Involvement Program which recognizes the involvement of employees in their local community by providing airline tickets to the registered charities in support of their fundraising initiatives.  The Foundation in collaboration with the airline also engages directly in fundraising activities such as the Every Bit Counts program which encourages customers to donate loose change of all denominations onboard flights or through airport collection containers. The Foundation also offers continued support to major health-related causes that benefit Canadians and is an active participant in international humanitarian relief activity as the need arises.  For more information about the Air Canada Foundation, please visit www.aircanada.com/foundation or the 2015 Corporate Sustainability Report, Citizens of the World, online at www.aircanada.com/csr.

SOURCE Air Canada