Prince Edward Island Association for Community Living in the running to win a donation of $125,000!
Prince Edward Island Association for Community Living (PEIACL) announces that it is the only Atlantic Canadian organization among the ten finalists in iA Financial Group’s Canada-wide philanthropic contest.
PEIACL submitted their proposal “Caring Conference: Respite Weekend for Families” to iA Financial Group’s Canada-wide philanthropic contest. Their proposal outlines a project designed to help empower caregivers in their personal, social, recreation, health, and wellness lives. Parents/caregivers will be able to attend various workshops including ‘Signs of Stress and How to Reduce It’, ‘Communicating Effectively with Health Care Professionals’, and ‘Financial Futures’. Meanwhile, their sons/daughters/loved ones with intellectual disabilities will be under the care of respite workers and will offer a number of activities including sports, movies, and crafts. The goal of the weekend is to have families, caregivers, and their loved ones feeling refreshed, and that they have developed leadership and advocacy awareness skills. This, in turn, will increase their overall well-being while positively influencing their families and the community around them.
Being a top-ten finalist means PEIACL will receive a minimum of $10,000. But with the support of the community, PEIACL has a chance to a donation of up to $125,000. This would allow PEIACL to conduct a Family Respite Weekend every quarter for the next three years by covering costs associated with venue rentals, hiring experts, as well as employing respite workers for the sons and daughters while parents/caregivers are attending workshops.
Until November 29, 2019, the public is invited to go to ia.ca/contest-ia-donations and vote for the two submissions they find the most inspiring from among the ten finalist submissions.
“We are excited that iA Financial Group chose our submission. We work with families on a daily basis and we know that caring for a loved one full-time can be exhausting and often leave parents and caregivers feeling isolated. Our “Caring Conference: Respite Weekend for Families” is much-needed and it would be amazing if we could offer this numerous times over the coming years. We encourage people to vote!” says Julie Smith, executive director of PEIACL. PEIACL is the only non-profit-organization in the Maritimes selected to be in the top ten, Smith hopes that everyone in the region will support PEIACL with their votes.
Note that a donation of $125,000 will be made to the charity that receives the most votes, the second and third place charities will each receive a donation of $50,000 and the remaining seven charities will each receive $10,000. Contest results will be announced on December 12th.
Contest details are available at ia.ca/contest-ia-donations.
About PEIACL: The Prince Edward Island Association for Community Living (PEIACL) is a family-based association empowering people with intellectual disabilities and their families to lead the way in advancing inclusion in their own lives and in their communities. We do this by sharing information, fostering leadership for inclusion, facilitating networking, connecting people and opportunities, and promoting rights and values in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
About iA Financial Group Founded in 1892, iA Financial Group is one of the largest insurance and wealth management companies in Canada. It also operates in the United States. Its stock is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IAG (common shares) and IAF (preferred shares).