Charities

LifePilot net profits flow to LifePilot Community Outreach Programs and The Thomas Foundation, which focuses on supporting mental health and children's charities.

In April 2007, due to the generous donation of the Stenner Investment Partners of GMP Private Client in Vancouver, The Thomas Foundation was able to provide educational grants intended to help youth under the age of 30, who suffer from a mental illness and who are Coast Foundation members, to achieve their life goals and reach their highest personal potential through educational assistance.

In addition, The Thomas Foundation is thrilled to also provide educational grants to the Power to Be Wilderness school to support and encourage a Power to Be Wilderness School youth to become a values-based leader in our community.

Below are the charities and foundations that The Thomas Foundation in Canada and the Todd Thomas Foundation in the US have supported to date:

• American Heart Association
  We donated a Dale Chihuly piece of glass to the Arizona Heart Ball for their auction. The dollars raised from the sale of the Chihuly piece will be designated to a Meritorious Research Grant restricted to research related to depression and stroke. A recently completed epidemiological study ranks depression as one of the leading risk factors of stroke – as great a risk factor as high blood pressure, and even higher risk than high cholesterol. Unfortunately, it remains one of the most under diagnosed and under treated signs of stroke despite its prevalence and despite the availability of effective treatments.
  
  
• Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Greater Vancouver
  Boy's and Girls' Clubs of Greater Vancouver are an amazing force of goodness that has positively impacted so many people – right when they need to be impacted positively – when they are young and facing the many challenges of growing up. Today, the Boys' and Girls' Clubs of Greater Vancouver provide a range of social, health, educational and recreational services to young people. The Clubs interact with 700 kids every day, serving more than 6,000 young people annually. They do more than just help those young people – they also reach out and provide a number of services for parents and families as well. Since 1936, when the first club was started in East Vancouver, the Boys' and Girls' Clubs of Great Vancouver have provided a range of services from the most basic programming that provide a safe and healthy place for kids to gather after school – when they have nowhere else to go – to providing life-altering substance abuse counseling to kids whose lives are literally at risk. Boys' and Girls' Clubs are not a government agency, though they do deliver some contracted programs to help extend the reach of government help. They are not a religious organization – but they adhere to some basic ethical commitments. They do not discriminate – every kid is welcome in the Club, regardless of means. If they cannot afford it, they pay a modest annual membership fee. If they can't afford it, they are not expected to pay.
  
  
• Child Help USA®
  Mission
  Childhelp USA® exists to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children. We do so by focusing our efforts in the areas of treatment, prevention, and research.
  
  Childhelp USA® - Philosophy
  
  Childhelp USA® credits its success to its founders' visionary beliefs, which are the heart of the organization:
  
  - Childhelp USA believes that every child has a unique contribution to make to the world. We do everything within our power to help each child heal and develop self-esteem to reach their God-given potential.
  - We believe unconditional love is the foundation upon which all healing begins. The entrance of each Childhelp USA facility features the words "All Who Enter Here Will Find Love."
  - These children, who have seen the worst that life has to offer, deserve the best that we can provide while they are in the care of Childhelp USA.
  
  
• Children’s Hospital and Health Center
  
  Children’s Hospital and Health Center, the only pediatric medical center in San Diego and Imperial counties, has 248 licensed beds.
  
  
  Every day, an average of:
  • 200 children need Children’s Emergency Department.
  • 160 children are admitted to Children’s.
  • 4 San Diego children suffer a serious traumatic injury or illness.
  • 50 surgeries, including one heart surgery, are performed.
  • 32 children receive treatment at our Cancer Care Center.
  In fact, more than 90,000 sick or injured kids are treated at Children’s every year.
  
  For more information, please call Children’s Hospital Foundation (858/966-5950) or visit the hospital’s website at www.chsd.org.
  
  
• Coast Foundation Society
  Coast Foundation Society Since 1974, Coast has worked to promote recovery of persons with mental illness, focusing on personal growth and social integration, advocacy and direct service.
  
  Coast: A Model for Mental Health
  
  Coast’s diverse programs throughout the Lower Mainland are serving as a model for community-based mental health programs everywhere. What sets Coast apart is the broad spectrum of psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery services we offer for all levels and stages of mental illness – from immediate transition needs to 24-hour licensed care facilities, employment programs and addiction services:
  • Mental Health Resource Centre: Based in Vancouver’s downtown south, the Centre offers immediate basic needs, psychosocial programs and housing advocacy, in a safe environment fivedays a week.
  • Supported Housing: We now have nearly 600 people in supported housing, operate ten community homes and eight transitional cottages at Riverview.
  • Employment programming: Through the Resource Centre and Coast’s Clubhouse on East 11th Avenue & Kingsway, our employment programs build useful vocational skills, particularly through the successful PACT employment program.
  Coast was the first organization of its kind to receive accreditation through the Canadian Council of Health Services in 2003.
  
  Our growth in becoming one of the largest independent organizations serving people with mental illness has occurred in partnership with other non-profit agencies. Coast is part of a comprehensive network of services, providing access to broad range of other mental health and community support services.
  
  In the last six years, Coast has also sponsored the successful Courage to Come Back Awards that profiles the achievements of people who have overcome significant disabilities.
  
  www.coastfoundation.com
  
  The Truth About Mental Illness
  
  Almost one in five people in Canada are diagnosed with mental illness – it can be someone you know: your mother, brother or friend. The reality is that mental illness is a sickness. Like cancer or diabetes, mental illness must be addressed and people afflicted cannot be ignored. Thousands more with mental illness go undiagnosed.
  
  Few people realize that a lack of proper supports for someone with a mental illness is as expensive as it is tragic. Not providing proper supports for the mentally ill creates or exacerbates health problems, mental health issues and addiction, and often leads to homelessness. And when mentally ill people have problems, they use the highest-cost public systems: Emergency rooms, hospital psychiatric beds, detox, residential treatment programs, and in some instances, jail cells. This puts a huge, unnecessary burden on the health care, mental health, addiction and corrections systems.
  
  The issues facing people with mental illness in 2005 are far more complex than in 1974 when Coast was founded. Homelessness, concurrent disorders (such as addictions), poverty and the sheer number of people in the community needing support have dramatically increased. Riverview Hospital will be closing by 2007 so that all support for people with mental illness will be offered through local health authorities or community agencies like Coast. Compounding the complexity is the lack of a national (since 1993) or a provincial housing program (since 2001).
  
  
• Empact
  Empact is a behavioral health organization offering counseling, crisis intervention, prevention and aftercare services to youth, adults and families. They provide a suicide crisis line staffed 24/7 by trainer supervised crisis counselors, counseling and psychiatric services, SOS, Survivors of Suicide support groups and a “Teens Talking to Teens hot line”. It is the only crisis intervention organization in Arizona certified by the American Association of Suicidology.
  
  
• Face the World Foundation
  Face The World foundation - The idea is giving
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Freedom's Door
  Freedom's Door provides a safe home for severely addicted men who are seeking recovery. They offer safety, a clean room and board facility with a very structured program for recovery. The structure includes providing a day with a set wakeup call, job list, life style change and a Christian Alcoholic's Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous counseling program. The current facilities include three duplex buildings in the City of Kelowna, housing 30 men. Most of these men come from a back alley, on the street existence, or from jails. All are generally severely addicted to alcohol and/or drugs. Many of the men are suffering from various forms of mental illness, depression or other physical ailments as a result of a lifetime of drug use. Their goal is to offer men an alternative lifestyle, free of addictions with sufficient skills to enable them to go out into the world with a new vision and sufficient skills both socially and economically to lead productive lives.
  
  
• Homes of Hope
  Hi Rita,
  Thank you for your kind Donation to Canada House.
  
  We have committed to building a 48 bed dormitory at the new Tijuana Del Mar Campus for Homes of Hope. Upon completion, this building will offer hundreds of young people a place to stay while they help the homeless and build in Mexico.
  When complete, Canada House will have a plaque listing all the donors.
  Please email me back with the amount of your contribution (it can be done over 2 years) and the names of your family members, including children, that you would like to have appear on the Canada House plaque.
  Please send your cheque to the appropriate location listed below, to ensure you get the right tax receipt.
  Sean Lambert and his team thank you for helping make a huge difference.
  
  Thanks Rita, and I hope you are doing well,
  Cheers
  Dave Steele
  
  PS: I will also be sending an email with information about next year's trip, sponsoring one of the YWAM staff whom we worked with this trip, and sponsoring other workers as well. Together, we are indeed making a difference!
  
  Address to send contributions:
  
  USA (payable to 'Youth With A Mission'):
  Youth With A Mission
  100 West 35th Street, Suite C
  National City, CA 91950
  Include a note specifying donation is for Canada House
  
  Canada (payable to 'Youth With A Mission'):
  Youth With A Mission
  2, 3012 17th Ave SE
  Suite 125
  Calgary, AB T2A 0P9
  Include a note specifying donation is for Canada House
  
  
  
• Life Development Institute
  Life Development Institute has programs for individuals with learning disabilities and related disorders. The purpose of the organization is to provide an environment and program that enables its students to complete requirements leading to graduation from the LDI's high school, college and technical school program linkages, begin careers trough employment compatible with capabilities, obtain independent living status, and financial self sufficiency. Their mission is to inspire students to experience success while optimizing their potential, leading to an enhanced quality of life by providing a challenging, supportive learning and living environment.
  
  
• Nana's Children
  Nana's Children is a mental health foundation dedicated to providing life-changing mental health support for homeless and impoverished children. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, Nana's Children uses a child's most accurate form of communication – play, to address mental health issues and support academic achievement. Nana's Children MHF partners with local Universities to provide internships for postgraduate psychology students. In collaboration with pediatric medical clinics, Nana's Children MHF provides referrals, prescriptions and medication. Also, Nana's Children MHF conducts extensive research on play therapy, studying the correlation between treatment and academic success.
  
  
• Not My Kid
  Not My Kid is dedicated to facilitating improved understanding about youth behavioral health issues including suicide, drug abuse, depression and anxiety. Its mandate is to promote healthy families by empowering parents to make educated decisions by providing increased understanding about youth behavioral health issues. They do this by organizing and participating in Parent Education and Action for Kids (PEAK) forums, providing online access to a free, confidential questionnaire that generates individualized reports and parent recommendations, and maintaining a comprehensive database of parent help literature and resources.
  
  
• Power to Be
   
  
  
  
  www.powertobe.ca
  
  
  
  
• Royal Jubilee Hospital
  The Royal Jubilee Hospital has recently built a new Crisis Response Unit in Victoria, B.C. The Todd Thomas Foundation assisted in raising funds to build this facility. The Crisis Response Unit now provides the most appropriate, timely and dignified care for individuals living with mental illness and psychiatric disorders. It also includes a very comprehensive research department.
  
  
• Teen Life Line
  Teen Life Line’s mission is to impact the devastating problem of teen suicide through a free, confidential, peer supported hotline and life skills development that empowers Arizona youth to reach their full potential. It was started in 1986 because there was no phone line specifically for teens. They now take over 4,000 calls per year and are available 24/7. An individual with a master’s degree and counseling in social work supervises the teens at all times and is available to deal with a crisis situation. They can also trace a call and send out a mobile team.
  
  
• The Lotus Children’s Centre and Orphanage – Mongolia
  In 1993 Didi Kalika, an Australian kindergarten and yoga teacher in Ulaanbaatar, was shocked by the plight of so many kids living on the streets. She started to help the kids by providing food and shelter and soon realized that there was a need for more.
  
  In 1995, with the help of some friends, she started the Lotus Centre: a place that provides children who come from some of the most terrible backgrounds; abandonment, sexual abuse, malnutrition and domestic violence; a chance to change their lives for the better.
  
  Through quality education, meaningful activities and by creating small family groups (10 children to one housemother), the Lotus Centre tries to give children a chance to make a positive future. Today 148 children call the Lotus Centre their home.
  
  The Center has also helps many ultra poor families with income projects and food assistance, so that poverty does not tear their family unit apart. The Lotus Centre isn’t a large organization - the majority of the core staff are volunteers, while nearly all of the staff work for discounted wages with no overtime. They are a child-focused organization and are a collection of people who are 100 percent committed to the welfare of their kids. Goals of Lotus At Lotus we have three simple goals:
  
  1. To provide primary care to all of our children, which includes food, health care, clothing and accommodation
  
  2. To provide the children with developmental care so that they can break free of the poverty cycle. For example, we aim to give each child a quality education, counseling, self esteem building exercises and the access to life skills.
  
  3. To provide the children with support in their “post Lotus” lives, so that they have a safety net and are able to find employment and tertiary education placements.
  
  In 2001, a group of individuals, including the Michael O’Brian Foundation purchased a building close to the Centre and have since renovated and converted the building to a school, resulting today in 113 children attending the school on a daily basis.
  
  
• Variety Learning Centre
  
         A brand new facility for special children with "barriers to learning", it is the ONLY and the FIRST of its kind. The Variety Learning Centre in Bur-Coquitlam is not only a therapeutic school, but also provides outreach programs/services for all types of children with barriers to learning: brain injuries, Down Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, severe learning disabilities and many more serious life-impairing diagnosis. To name only a few of the programs provided: dynamic assessment, support groups, seminars and trainings for teachers, parents and siblings. Now children who have been bullied and unable to learn have a safe, unique learning environment where they can function happily.

  On Wednesday, May 25, the 17th Annual Women’s Media Classic had another hugely successful day. Over the past 17 years, we have raised more than $2 million for BC’s special children. The Variety Learning Centre’s Mediated Learning Academy and the Down Syndrome Resource Centre were the chosen children’s charities to benefit from our efforts this year.

  This renowned Vancouver event was held at the Country Meadows Golf Course, with gala banquet festivities at the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa. This year’s theme, Hooray for Hollywood, was topped off with a very special appearance by The Nylons! Publicity coverage is immense with over 150 golfers and over 250 dinner guests – including so many prominent local media & political celebrities. 100% OF ALL FUNDS RAISED ARE DONATED TO ASSIST OUR CHARITIES IN PROVIDING SUPPORT TO THOUSANDS OF BC SPECIAL CHILDREN.

  Fabulous sponsors included Dexter Associates, Vancouver Sun, Cathay Pacific, Canada Wide Magazines, Vancouver Police Community Fund, BC Lottery Corporation, Labatts, Molson & Harmony Airways.

  Next year’s event is slated for Wednesday, May 17, 2006… mark it in your calendars!
  
  
  
• VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation
  
  Diana Krall leads charity event for VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation to benefit drive for ‘made-in-B.C. cures’ for blood-related cancers
  
  
  Diana to be joined by friends Tony Bennett, Elton John, husband Elvis Costello and former U.S. President William J. Clinton
  
  Vancouver: Diana Krall and some of the world’s most noted performers and humanitarians will focus the spotlight on fundraising for VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation to help pioneer "made-in-B.C. cures" for blood-related cancers and diseases at Vancouver General Hospital. Diana will be joined by her friends Tony Bennett, Elton John, husband Elvis Costello and former U.S. President William J. Clinton at a private sold-out black tie charity benefit concert and auction at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on Sunday, April 23, 2006.
  
  "Care and hope is what we all want to provide for our loved ones," says Diana Krall. "I’m forever grateful for the tremendous care my mother Adella received through the Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplant Program. I’m proud our efforts will support the vision of the talented team at VGH to find a cure and bring hope to families everywhere."
  
  "We are extremely fortunate to benefit from the leadership of the Krall family and the support of Diana’s husband and friends. We are at a critical juncture to establish our hospital as a recognized world leader in hematology through the creation of a new unique Hematology Clinical Trials Unit at VGH," says Dr. Mike Barnett, Head of the VGH and UBC Divisions of Hematology. "This charity benefit helps propel us forward to deliver unmatched care for people from across our province while bolstering our drive to pioneer ‘made-in-B.C. cures’ for blood diseases."
  
  "It’s a true honour for us to receive such enormous support from such a talented, prestigious and giving group of individuals," says Ron Dumouchelle, President and CEO, VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. "Our Foundation is grateful to Diana and her family and friends, who are helping the world-renowned health care professionals at our hospitals go from strength to strength and advance world-class health care for people in British Columbia."
  
  The Division of Hematology and the Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant (L/BMT) Program of British Columbia is world-renowned for its care for people from across B.C. with cancers of the blood such as leukemia and multiple myeloma.
  
  The charity benefit is a heartfelt expression of the Krall family’s thanks to the wonderful care her mother received through the L/BMT Program at VGH. Adella Krall, mother of Diana and Michelle, enjoyed six additional precious years of life following her 1996 diagnosis of multiple myeloma - an incurable form of cancer that affects the immune system. Diana’s previous five benefit concerts have collectively raised more than $1.3 million - helping to purchase the latest, most advanced medical equipment, to support patient comfort needs and to assist out-of-town L/BMT patients. Since Adella’s passing in May 2002, the Krall family has continued to demonstrate its commitment to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. It is the family’s desire to help others living with multiple myeloma to have the best care possible, to celebrate Adella’s vision of helping L/BMT patients and their families and ultimately, to contribute to finding a cure.
  
  VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation is a registered charity that raises funding for the latest, most sophisticated medical equipment, world-class research and improvements to patient care for Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, GF Strong Rehab Centre and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. For more than 25 years, the Foundation and its donors have been a bridge between the essential health care governments provide and the most advanced health care possible.
  
  Donations in support of patient care and research may be sent to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, 855 West 12th Ave. Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9 or by calling (604) 875-4676 or made on-line at www.supportvgh.ca
  
  Foundation information:
  Jon Hicke
  Director, Marketing & Communications
  VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation
  Tel: 604-875-5196
  jon.hicke@supportvgh.ca
  
  
• Wendy Paine O'Brien Treatment Center
  Wendy Paine O'Brien Treatment Center offers unique programming for children ages 3 and up and for adolescents ages 13 through 17 who have behavioral health problems. The Howard S. Gray Education Program at the Wendy Paine O'Brien Treatment Center provides accredited/certified classroom instruction for junior and senior high school students who are disabled or emotionally handicapped. Each classroom teacher selects materials most appropriate for an individual student's program and learning capabilities.