Donated miles to be used to connect families with children undergoing organ transplants

July 10, 2017, Toronto, ON – Aird & Berlis LLP has committed to donating an additional five million Aeroplan miles to the David Foster Foundation over the next five years, bringing their total to one million miles per year over ten years.

The Aeroplan miles are used to connect families supported by the David Foster Foundation. This donation is particularly important as it allows families that require travel assistance who are living in a remote and under-serviced area to travel to major transplant hospitals while their child waits for a life-saving organ transplant.

While there are dozens of families who have received support from the donated miles, one story still resonates with members of the law firm and the Foundation’s team. The Foundation used some of the donated Aeroplan miles to reconnect a living organ donor with his wife and three children for Christmas. The family members were flown from their home in Newfoundland & Labrador to Toronto, where they connected with their dad David and sister Shelby, who was in recovery from a father-to-daughter liver transplant at Ronald McDonald House. It was the first time the family had been together in three months.

“Our goal is to help keep families together during the most difficult time in their life and throughout one of the biggest challenges a parent could ever imagine having to face,” says Michael Ravenhill, CEO of the David Foster Foundation. “Without the support of our national partners like Aird & Berlis LLP, we wouldn’t be able to help families from coast to coast that are faced with the added financial stress of non-medical expenses from flights and accommodation to mortgage and car payments. .”

In other cases, the Aeroplan points were used to book an emergency flight for a father from Yukon so that he could be by his child’s side that evening when things took a drastic medical turn. The Foundation was also able to reunite a mother and daughter who had to remain at CHU Sainte Justine Hospital in Montreal with her siblings. The siblings were being cared for by family at home 800 Km away, and they had not been together as a family in nearly three months.

Since it was founded 30 years ago, the David Foster Foundation has helped to support the non-medical expenses of more than 1,000 Canadian families with children who are undergoing life-saving pediatric organ transplants.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with the David Foster Foundation in this life-changing work,” says Steven Zakem, Managing Partner of Aird & Berlis LLP.

In addition to the support through the donation of Aeroplan miles, Aird & Berlis LLP has committed office space and full administrative support for the David Foster Foundation in the Toronto financial district.

For more information, visit www.davidfosterfoundation.com.

About the David Foster Foundation

David Foster is a proud Canadian, Recipient of the Order of Canada, Officer of the Order of Canada, 50-time nominee and 16-time Grammy Award winner (including three for Producer of the Year), three-time Oscar nominee, Golden Globe winner, seven-time Juno Award winner, Emmy award winner and has the distinguished honour to have his star on both the Canadian and Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is the man behind the biggest hits, with more than half a billion records sold. In 2015, the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria recognized Foster as their Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year.

Foster launched the David Foster Foundation in his hometown of Victoria in 1986. Across Canada, the David Foster Foundation financially supports families for all non-medical expenses while their children are undergoing lifesaving organ transplants. Thanks to its annual fundraising efforts and the generous support of national partners like TELUS, WestJet, AMJ Campbell, Aird &; Berlis LLP, Schnitzer, and families receive support for expenses incurred when travelling away from their homes to be with their child during transplant.

In 2014, the Slaight Family Foundation, Newton Glassman Foundation in partnership with Catalyst Capital Group Inc., Jim & Sandi Treliving, and Tan Sri Dr. Francis Yeoh joined TELUS as the Foundation’s $1 million Life Legacy members.

The Foundation also promotes organ donor awareness and registration in both Canada and the United States. For more information, visit www.davidfosterfoundation.com.