2011 Donor Impact Report - Charity Focus

NHL Alumni lace up for our tiniest playersCE Franklin 3-on-3 Hockey Tournament scores $200,000 for NICU.Having a family is one of themost exciting things – untilyou’re thrown a curve ball. Formany families that go throughthe Neonatal Intensive CareUnit (NICU) at Foothills MedicalCentre, Rockyview GeneralHospital and Peter LougheedCentre, the first few days arethe hardest of them all.Over 2,000 babies go throughthe NICUs in Calgary eachyear; approximately 10 percent of all the babies thatare born in the city andsurrounding area. The NICUshave the most intensive carebeds of any specialty andare one of the highest needsenvironments, not in terms ofthe patients, but in terms oftechnology and family support.When Mike West, Presidentand CEO of CE Franklin Ltd.,and his team approachedCalgary Health Trust, theywere looking for a way tosupport excellence in healthcare and make an impact ontheir community. The morethey learned about the NICUs,the more they wanted to dosomething – and being inCalgary, thought it shouldinvolve hockey.“The CE Franklin 3-on-3Hockey Tournament is ourway of investing back intoour community. It alignswith our operational valuesof contributing to thecommunities we operate in,”explained Mike. “The NICUsseemed like a cause thatneeded some assistanceand we thought we couldbring a lot of energy andsupport around the cause.Our investment in the localcommunity is something ouremployees are extremelyproud of and something wehave worked hard at over thelast couple of years.”The tournament raisedover $200,000 for CalgaryHealth Trust in support of theNICUs. “We couldn’t haveasked for a better chair thanFlames Assistant GM andNHL alumnus Craig Conroy,”said Mike. “We wanted thetournament to be a chanceto bring companies together,create some camaraderie andbring families out to support avery worthy cause, and Craigjumped right on board willingto do whatever was needed.”Other alumni who joined thetournament included MarkAstley; Rene Corbet; DwayneHaye, Craig Levie, Jeff Shantz;Morris Lukowich; DennisPolonich; Rob Tudor; WarrenSkorodenski; Gord Sherven;Anthony Stiles and KenHouston. Teams were givenone alumni player to hit theice, with 2010 Olympic Goldmedalist Christine Nesbitt alsoon hand to sign autographsand greet the players andfans.“The more we started talkingabout it, the more I wasamazed at how many of ourown employees have beenimpacted and have hadto utilize these services,”said Mike. “Family is such aprecious thing. The work thatall the doctors and staff doin the NICUs for these tinypatients is second to none.”Celebrity Chair Craig Conroy jumped at the chance to supportsuch a good cause (shown here with a fan from the KidZone).Companies face off in good camaraderie for Calgary HealthTrust in support of the NICUs.{ }Fact: Calgary’s NICUs are the primary acute care facility for premature infants and their families in Southern Alberta,southwest British Columbia and southeast Saskatchewan. Premature infants as early as 23 weeks, surgical newborns,infants with heart problems and those that just need a little extra care all pass through the doors of the NICUs.$200,000Thank you.27