YESS Champion

In December 2022, The Home Depot Canada Foundation hosted their annual Orange Door Project holiday campaign in support of youth-focused charities across the country! The Home Depot Canada Foundation is committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness. Together with community partners across the country, they work to break cycles of inequity and enable at-risk youth facing homelessness achieve positive development outcomes and realize their full potential.

In the Edmonton area, eight The Home Depot stores selected YESS as their charity of choice for their Orange Door Project holiday campaign. In total YESS will be granted $51,810.40 as a result of the successful campaign!

We are so grateful to these local stores for their initiative to support youth in their community! Thank you to:

Home Depot Clareview 

Home Depot Westend 

Home Depot South Common 

Home Depot St. Albert 

Home Depot Edmonton Strathcona 

Home Depot Skyview 

Home Depot Edmonton (Westmount) 

Home Depot Whitemud 

Home Depot Edmonton Windermere

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I was born and have lived my entire life in Edmonton. We had a family business on the Southside (99 St. and 82 Avenue) where I worked for several years until we moved our business downtown in 1980 to 112 St. and Jasper Avenue. My whole career has been focused on the travel industry so I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to see much of the world. Traveling is a great educator and certainly puts into perspective just how lucky we are in Canada in comparison to many other countries. Yes, our weather could be better but aside from that I’ve always found Edmonton to be a great place to raise a family (I’m married and have one son who is a teacher, and we have two granddaughters). My wife and I sold our company (Globetrotter Travel Ltd.) back in 2014 but remain very active in the travel industry as IC’s (independent contractors) for the firm that purchased us – Vision Travel. Vision is a privately held agency with some 50 offices across Canada with annual sales approaching $1 billion. It’s one of Canada’s largest agencies and their buying power has given us terrific opportunities to provide many extra amenities to our clients which in turn has allowed us to grow our business to the point that my wife Sue is amongst the top producers for the company in Canada.

What inspired you to support youth in our community?

My father Carlos (since deceased) was a Member of the Rotary Club of Edmonton South for many years. The Club used to meet first at the Park Hotel on Calgary Trail and 80^th Avenue (now I’m dating myself!) and after the hotel burned down we moved for many years to the Renford Inn, which is now the Varscona Hotel. That is where I eventually joined Rotary back in 1978 at the age of 20. For over 11 years I was the youngest member of the Club. I had a great opportunity to meet many of the movers and shakers of business who had major companies on the South Side and I received a lot of guidance and inspiration from these individuals. I got to see that while they were very successful, they also knew that giving back to the community was important and that was a valuable lesson for me as a young man starting out in business myself. It inspired me to join the Board of the Club and I was given the portfolio of Community Service. It was at that time that our Club received a letter requesting funding from a brand new organization call YESS (Youth Emergency Shelter Society back then) and I was really taken with the concept that they were looking to implement. Being from a loving and stable background, I couldn’t directly relate to what many young people were going through but knew that it was important to fill the gap that existed for young people in need. YESS required a commercial dishwasher in order to get their occupancy license (a $3,500.00 request, so quite a bit of money at that time). I pushed hard for the request to be fulfilled and thankfully I had the support of my fellow board members and that gave YESS the final item they needed in order to open their doors and they still serve the community from that very same location all these years later. I myself have been a Member of Edmonton South for 45 years.

What is one thing you wish the community knew about YESS?

Your [recent] presentation [to the Rotary Club] reminded me of all the extra work that YESS now does for youth in the community and I truly believe that most Edmontonians don’t fully realize the scope of what great work you really do for youth in our community.   

The Collin Bruce Mortgage Team

Collin, Janel & the team at Collin Bruce Mortgage Team have had profound impact with their philanthropic commitment over the past 10 years. As passionate advocates and ambassadors for our youth in the community, the Collin Bruce Mortgage Team has helped to strengthen the futures of our youth through their many creative and generous avenues of support. With television and radio commercials, they have been instrumental in raising awareness of the challenges our youth face. Their benevolence has extended to major financial support, Christmas gifts for the youth celebrating the holidays at YESS, and they have generously matched support for fundraising initiatives at SONiC 102.9.

For the past 17 years, SONiC 102.9 has been serving our community and bringing people together with their annual Halloweenie Roast! With their partnership with the Collin Bruce Mortgage Team, they continue to raise awareness and show immense support to the youth accessing YESS programs. Be sure to tune in for all the best of Edmonton and hear about great upcoming fundraisers they host including the Abandoned Shopping Carts of YEG Calendars.

“SONiC is Alternative Edmonton, which means we love this city and want to support our community. YESS does fantastic, life-changing work and they are deserving of everyone’s support.” – SONiC 102.9

 

“We are proud supporters of YESS. These are kids, put in horrible situations. I can’t imagine what would happen to these youth if it wasn’t for YESS. This is why it is so incredibly important to support YESS and why we will continue to do so.” – Collin Bruce

 

YESS is honoured to recognize TELUS for their dedication in transforming the lives of youth experiencing homelessness. With their years of philanthropic commitment TELUS has been a pivotal support for youth to address trauma and have the resources they need to focus on healing. TELUS’ passion for community is exemplified in their annual TELUS Days of Giving and numerous employee engagement efforts. TELUS Community Ambassadors lend their support in ensuring youth have memorable holidays at YESS. Since 2000, the TELUS team and retirees have contributed over $430,000. Additionally, the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation through the Edmonton Community Board also contributed $72,000 in grants since 2005. Their generosity continues to make a profound impact on youth through the essential programs at YESS. Thank you to TELUS for being a pillar of support as we focus on breaking the cycle of youth homelessness.

“We believe that good business and doing good go hand-in-hand and are incredibly proud to be able to leverage our resources, time, and compassion to make a difference in our communities. Through our give where we live philosophy, since 2000, TELUS, our team members, and retirees have provided more than $1.4B in cash, in-kind contributions, time, and programs and volunteered 1.8 million days to charities and community organizations in our local communities—just like YESS. It is an honour to support the meaningful work of YESS who are not only helping to transform the lives of youth experiencing homelessness but also helping to make the world a better place.” – Jill Schnarr, Chief Social Innovation and Communications Officer, TELUS 

The Edmonton Civic Employees Charitable Assistance Fund (ECECAF) donated $34,000 to our recent project of renovating the laundry room and bathroom space in Graham’s Place, one of our supportive housing programs.

The remodeling of Graham’s Place bathroom space and laundry room has provided a comfortable home-like environment for youth to thrive and achieve their personal goals. The new laundry room has provided a sustainable way for our staff to teach life skills, and the remodeled bathrooms have created a space of self-care and privacy. The new setup for bathrooms has also taken away the notion of gendered bathrooms and has created a safe and neutral environment for all.

Tell us why you choose to support YESS?

YESS is a locally based, grass-roots organization that aligns with many of the values ECECAF strives to uphold. We recognize the desperate situation of traumatized youth in Edmonton and applaud the tireless dedication by YESS to mitigate and heal this issue. We especially realize the importance of supporting youth as they are our future.

How does ECECAF give back to the community?

ECECAF gives back to the community by helping our contributing members to help others on a larger scale through collective donations.

We choose to support local organizations which in turn tend to support the community we live in, our members, their families, and their neighbours.

Why is it important for ECECAF to support the community?

With our motto being “Impacting Lives and Promoting Healthy Communities,” ECECAF was formed in 1941 to address three main concerns: 

• To contribute to the comfort of military patients in Edmonton hospitals
• To provide assistance to soldiers and their families during WWII
• To give financial assistance to charitable and welfare organizations formed for the purpose of scientific research into the causes and cures of diseases

We still believe that by helping those in our community who need help the most, we help the entire community in turn.

We want to give a huge thanks to D’Arcy’s Meat Market for supporting youth in their community amidst all their other giving initiatives!

The partnership we have built with them continues to support our kitchen and provides nutrition for youth who access our programs. We talked to Kyle Iseke, owner of D’Arcy’s Meat Market, about why their team chose to give to YESS.

We had been looking for a few places that we could donate some meats as we had been very busy during this pandemic. Our team was staying safe and customers were very supportive. Earlier in the year we had donated a large order of ground beef to the St. Albert Food Bank and thought about finding a different place to send some meats and sort of spread the love around, especially because we have a location in Edmonton. When we started looking for a place, we found some were not accepting donations because of the pandemic. It was around this time YESS had reached out to us looking for help getting proteins and obviously the timing was great, but also YESS does wonderful work and has a great reputation for making a difference, so it was an easy choice to get on board.

I think in general D’Arcy’s Meat Market is giving back to the community by serving as a bridge between local livestock producers and consumers looking to purchase local meat. So much of what we consume these days comes from so far away and we believe that simply by using the amazing agriculture we have in this province we can support our economy, improve our food security, lessens the environmental strain caused by long haul trucking or flying in foods, and provide a more natural product that undergoes less processing. Of course, we also try to support causes like YESS, the Food Bank, SAIF (Stop Abuse in Families Society in St. Albert), and as many shelters, sports organizations, and silent auctions that we can afford.

Giving back to the community is very important because when we have a strong and well-supported society, I believe my business thrives. I also have two young children and I’d like to set a good example for them that, when possible, taking care of your neighbours is an important thing to do.

Photo credit: D’Arcy’s Meat Market team after they won the best sausage in Edmonton award / Photo courtesy of Kyle Iseke

Sheila and Grant McCarthy first started giving to YESS in 1999. With their commitment to supporting youth in our community, they wanted to ensure that their legacy of giving could continue on for many years to come through a family endowment fund. Hear from Sheila about why giving back to the community was so important for her family and how they chose to share those gifts.

I am a recent widow with a fairly large family including 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. My husband had a successful manufacturing business and I was the accountant. We were both fortunate to have supportive families that allowed us to follow our chosen careers.

My husband, Grant, and I started giving to charities many years ago because we thought it was time to start giving back to the community. We felt very strongly about helping the less fortunate. We were especially interested in the homeless, which included the homeless youth.

We know that the teen and early 20 years are very difficult for many young people. Many of them have experienced trauma in their lives and can no longer live at home. We have seen first-hand the problems of alcohol and drugs and the havoc it can cause in families. We started giving to YESS because YESS provided a safe place for youth to stay and food to eat while they figured out what they will do next with their lives. When we visited YESS in 2015, we were very impressed with the workers who were so genuinely interested in providing support and guidance for these young people whether it was in continuing education, job support, health issues, or building positive relationships.

We set up a family fund with the Edmonton Community Foundation so that there would be continued support for our chosen charities after we have passed away. We hope that our family will also contribute to this fund in the future.

I hope that all the young people living on the street know that YESS is an option for them.

Endowment Funds:  Longevity and Effectiveness

When you commit to an endowment fund, you give the gift of a lifetime and positively affect the lives of thousands of youth. Your gift to the fund is held in perpetuity, with the principal invested. A portion of the income generated is used to support YESS’s vital programs, with the remainder adding to principal growth. As a result, your gift continues to give, year after year. 

You may designate your endowment fund gift to the mission of the agency, ensuring that the funding it provides will be applied where the need is greatest, or you may specify the program you wish to see benefit from your generosity. Either way, you can make your commitment confident that the value of your gift will be maximized over time by a respected investment management group, guided by the policies and procedures of Youth Empowerment and Support Services.

YESS is working to end youth homelessness by focusing on prevention and diversion out of homelessness. We are extremely grateful to all those individuals and groups who have established endowment funds in support of YESS. Thank you for helping us to thrive and grow in our commitment to serving the youth. Thank you for being that person who changed a life—many times over!

With the support and forethought of people like Sheila and Grant McCarthy, YESS is able to walk beside traumatized youth as they heal through relationships. Your gift can make a huge difference in the lives of vulnerable people and our community, today and long into the future.

To find out more about maximizing your philanthropy and for more detailed information on establishing an endowment fund, we invite you to contact our Senior Development Officer, Eileen Papulkas, at 780.468.7070 x 298 or eileen.papulkas@yess.org

In December 2021, The Home Depot Canada Foundation hosted their annual winter Orange Door Project Campaign in support of youth-focused charities across the country! The Home Depot Canada Foundation is committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness. Together with community partners across the country, they work to break cycles of inequity and enable at-risk youth facing homelessness achieve positive development outcomes and realize their full potential.

Making donations $2 at a time, Canadians made this Orange Door Project Campaign extremely successful! In honour of the hard work of their in-store associates and the ongoing difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Home Depot Canada Foundation decided to grant an additional $5,500 to each store’s campaign partner for a total investment of $1,001,000!

In the Edmonton area, nine The Home Depot stores selected YESS as their charity of choice for their winter Orange Door Project Campaign. In total YESS will be granted $105,789.52 as a result of the successful campaign!

We are so grateful to these local stores for their initiative to support youth in their community! Thank you to:

Home Depot Clareview
Home Depot Westend
Home Depot South Common
Home Depot St. Albert
Home Depot Edmonton Strathcona
Home Depot Skyview
Home Depot Sherwood Park
Home Depot Edmonton (Westmount)
Home Depot Whitemud
Home Depot Edmonton Windermere

Home Depot Clareview	Home Depot Sherwood Park	Home Depot Skyview
Home Depot South Common	Home Depot Strathcona	Home Depot Westend
Home Depot Westmount	Home Depot Whitemud	Home Depot Windermere

For National Philanthropy Day 2021 we nominated 5 Days for the Homeless, ATCO, and John Brooks Comapny Ltd., to recognize their incredible support of YESS!

Youth Empowerment & Support Services (YESS) is honored to recognize John Brooks Company Limited as a true pillar in the Edmonton community. By way of their philanthropic leadership and their commitment to the community, they have championed YESS for nearly a decade. Founded in 1938 and a national leader in Industrial pumps, spray products, filtration equipment, valves and complete system solution expertise, John Brooks Company Limited has been tireless with their encouragement and strength of confidence in the youth and our organization. John Brooks Company Limited firmly believes in giving back to affect a real difference in the community. Major donors since 2012, YESS is so grateful for the leadership, dedicated team members and vision of John Brooks Company Limited. Altogether, their generosity has helped to support programs and resources that help youth experiencing trauma and homelessness achieve goals for their relationships, their health, and their futures. Their generosity has profoundly impacted the lives of countless youth. Thank you for being a part of creating a community where we can heal together!

“Here at John Brooks Company we put a very high value on people and have been very happy to be a consistent supporter of organizations such as YESS that directly support some of our more vulnerable Canadians. Particularly in challenging times as these, it is important to support those who strive to make a positive difference.”