CanHelp & Disaster Relief
The CanHelp program allows credit unions to collect cash or cheque donations from their member-owners and record the donor’s information in a simple Excel spreadsheet, to be forwarded later to the Canadian Red Cross or other partners through OCUCF. OCUCF will issue tax receipts to all donations greater than $10.00. This “grass-roots” program creates a simplified way for credit unions to collect donations from their member-owners who are looking to donate in a secure manner.
When the program is initiated in response to a disaster, OCUCF will announce the specific program details through our web-site, our own e-mail blast, as well as through Central 1′s NewsBytes.
In addition to the CanHelp Program, the Foundation allocates up to 5% of all annual funds collected (not including Community Investment Funds) for disaster relief programs.
Current Projects:
The recent tornado in Goderich has left “Ontario’s Prettiest Little Town” devastated with many historical buildings completely destroyed and many people trying to pick up the pieces of what is left of their homes. At the request of The Advisory Council for Smaller Asset Sized Credit Union, OCUCF has launched CanHelp to assist in the collection of relief funds for the town. You can download our supporting documents by clicking on the CanHelp Collection Document and Instruction Sheet. OCUCF will continue to collect funds from participating credit unions until September 30th, 2011 at which time the money collected will be forwarded to the Canadian Red Cross and other partners. Tax receipts will be issued to individual donors from OCUCF for any donation of $10.00 or more.
To donate to our disaster relief effort, please visit our online donation page.
For any additional information please contact Devon Rowan at devon@ontariocucf.ca or Tony Niessen at tony@ontariocucf.ca – 289-335-1152.
Past Campaigns
Our Horn of Africa Drought & Famine campaign concluded August 31st. A cheque in the amount of $5,000 which represents a donation from OCUCF was forwarded to The Canadian Red Cross at the end of August. Individual donations are being calculated and we expect to have a final tally within a couple of weeks.
On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami that has left major parts of the country virtually unrecognizable. On March 14th OCUCF launched it’s CanHelp program to support the immediate relief efforts, through the Canadian Red Cross. On July 21st a cheque for over $42,000 was directed to the Red Cross as a result of the money raised by Ontario Credit Unions and individual donors through this campaign. Tax receipts for all donations have been mailed out as of the end of August.