ING DIRECT Children's Charities
Plan Canada
Plan Canada (formerly Foster Parents Plan and a member of Plan International) is a humanitarian, child-focused development organization. Non-political, and with no religious affiliations, they aim to build a better world for children, now and in the future.
Since 1999, ING DIRECT and Plan have partnered together to bring hope, health and happiness to children around the world. Our employees sponsor 62 children from some of the most impoverished communities around world and our employee monthly donations have helped provide health, education, clean water and more to these children and their families.
In 2010. ING DIRECT fulfilled a three-year commitment in donating $1 million to Plan Canada’s Promise a Future Campaign to fund over 12 high-priority projects in Boliva, Brazil and Benin. The campaign targeted children in some of the world’s poorest countries by implementing vital education, health, and water projects.
Children's Wish Foundation
The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada is dedicated to working within communities across the country to fulfill wishes for children diagnosed with high-risk, life-threatening illnesses. ING DIRECT has been a dedicated sponsor of the program since 2004, striving to fulfill as many wishes as possible for our country's children.
Since 2006, ING DIRECT employees company-wide have helped to raise funds by contributing a small on-going portion of their payroll, helping to raise over $250,000. Our local Cafés have also helped to raise over $2 million through annual events such as the “Flight in Search of Santa”, the Children’s Wish Walk parade, and the Wish Tree (displayed at all Children’s Wish events).
BC Children's Hospital Foundation
In 2010, the Vancouver Café began supporting the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF), the province's only full-service acute care hospital serving children living in BC and the Yukon.
In 2010, we sponsored the 25th annual ChildRun, which set a record participation of 6,300 and raised a record-breaking $1 million. ChildRun is part of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation’s (BCCHF) Miracle weekend, which has raised over $16 million since its inception.
SickKids Foundation
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is recognized as one of the world's foremost pediatric health-care facilities and one of Canada’s most research-intensive hospitals, generating discoveries that have helped children globally. SickKids Foundation collects donations to purchase state of the art equipment and update facilities that are essential to the work of physicians, researchers, scientists and nurses at the hospital.
ING DIRECT employees are involved in supporting this charity through various internal fundraisers. In 2009, ING DIRECT presented a personal and specialized donation to Ward C – Neurosurgery, Neurology and Trauma and staff made a special visit to the Ward bearing gift donations of brand new TVs, DVD/VHS players, video games, sound equipment and a variety of children’s entertainment videos.
Since 2004, ING DIRECT has sponsored several teams over the summer and winter seasons for SickKids Charity Volleyball tournaments in support of The James Birrell Research Laboratories at SickKids, which specializes in childhood Cancer Research.
Enfant-Retour Québec
Enfant-Retour Québec is the only non-profit organization in Québec whose mission is to assist families in the search for their missing children and to educate the public in order to decrease the occurrence of children disappearing.
Since 2003, the ING DIRECT Montréal Café des finances has proudly supported Enfant-Retour Québec through various community events such as the “Breakfast of Hope” and the “Dragon Boat Challenge”. We have also been a title sponsor of other Enfant-Retour Quebéc's Children's Walk of Hope and the organization’s first Family Day event.
The Montréal Café des fianances team also supported Enfant-Retour Québec’s “Skate your Heart Out” fundraising event with Glen Metropolit of the Montréal Canadiens raising funds and giving underprivileged children an opportunity to turn a “Habs” dream into a reality.
Youth Assisting Youth (YAY)
Youth Assisting Youth is a non-profit charitable organization that provides a peer mentoring service to improve life prospects for at-risk and newcomer children. Since 1976, YAY has guided more than 20,000 young people through mentoring programs aimed at keeping them in school and out of the juvenile justice system.
Since 2003, the Toronto Café has worked with YAY to implement mentoring programs for children and youth in the community like our “Plant a Tree for Life” event in 2003, where over 100 kids joined us at the Toronto Zoo to help plant trees and shrubs. We also support the Volunteer Mentor Scholarship program, developed in 2004, which provides financial support to young people who have volunteered their time to mentor at-risk youth within the city.
Tel-jeunes
Tel-jeunes is a free and confidential service that is available 24 hours/7 days a week for children and youth in Québec allowing young people to establish a relationship of trust with professionals who listen, support and inform youth on issues of concern.
Since 2004, the Montréal Café de finances has sponsored Aider, c'est branché! (Helping is Cool!), a program which provides peer-support groups within school settings.
KidSafe
The KidSafe Project serves nearly 300 at-risk inner city elementary school children in Vancouver by offering healthy meals, learning programs and recreational opportunities free-of-charge. ING DIRECT has been working with KidSafe since 2005, and our Vancouver Café colleagues focus their efforts on KidSafe and its many initiatives throughout the year like bringing educational shows to schools with high numbers of KidSafe children to enhance their learning experiences and promote a safe, nurturing environment.
Generations Foundation
Generations Foundation is a non-profit organization geared at improving the quality of life for over 6,500 underprivileged children in the greater Montréal area. They provide hot meals, summer camps, school supplies, after school mentoring programs and Christmas gifts.
Since 2006, the Montréal Café des finances has supported Generations through their “Spring & Winter Breakfast Radiothon” fundraisers. Each year volunteers from the Café cheer on the patrons and provide assistance in planning the event. We also sponsor 10 children to attend the Generations summer camp in Northern Québec for a two week, fun-filled learning experience to help children develop social skills, acquire new friends and experience new challenges.
Tickle Trunk Players
The Tickle Trunk players provide innovative, interactive and affordable theatre performances and workshops for pre-school and elementary audiences. Their goal is to educate as well as entertain, and their primary focus is on literacy with dynamic shows that highlight specific learning outcomes.
The Vancouver Café helped found the Tickle Trunk Players in 2003 and since that time have provided support to have them perform at community events in Vancouver such as the “Word on The Street” festival, Movie in the Park nights, and Canada Day celebrations. In 2008, the Calgary Café also became involved helping to sponsor shows that are brought to schools.
Financial Literacy for Youth
Financial Literacy for Youth is a group of dedicated individuals in Vancouver who have come together to promote financial literacy and responsibility among youth.
Since their launch in 2009, the Vancouver Café has supported their annual Financial Literacy for Youth conference by providing two staff members to teach lessons and attend the tradeshow to answer students’ questions. The full day conference involves teams and competitions to make it fun to learn about money management.
