Annual Report 2011 / 2012

ContentsLetter from the CEO & Chair of The Board 3Access 2 Entertainment Report 4The Drop Zone 5Canada Safeway 6The Paper Egg Campaign 7Century 21 Kids to Camp 8Friends of We Care 9Our Corporate Sponsors 10Treasurer’s Report 11Board of Directors & Staff 12Provincial Members & Contact 13

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Access, Inclusion and OpportunityEaster Seals is dedicated to enhancing the lives of persons with disabilities in all provinces in Canada. Working with our provincial licensed members we are able to offer specialized provincial programs and services across Canada to more than 140,000 Canadians and their families. Our organization strives for excellence in the provision of services ranging from provision of assistive devices, employment training, life skills education, active living programming, community engagement and of course our 15 Easter Seals summer camps.

The Easter Seals Access 2 Entertainment Card program continues to grow. The Access Card enables persons with disabilities who require an attendant to become more active in the community by attending a movie or visiting a museum. This year we conducted a survey of cardholders to determine if we were helping people become more active. Over 14,000 surveys were emailed out and over 3,000 cardholders responded. An amazing 82% of Cardholders told us that the Access Card had helped them become more active mainly by getting out to the movies more often. Our special thanks to Cineplex Theatres, most other theatre chains and hundreds of museums, galleries and public spaces across Canada for welcoming persons with disabilities.

We wish to thank all of our loyal corporate sponsors, and a few new ones, notably Canada Safeway, Friends of We Care, Century 21 Canada, Money Mart, the Bargain Shops!, Sobeys and Booster Juice. Without your support we could not provide the services that we do for thousands of Canadians with disabilities. We should point out that all of these sponsors not only provide financial support for our work, but they all work hard to ensure that they engage persons with disabilities in their workforce and that their facilities are fully accessible. Increasingly corporate Canada is recognizing that persons with disabilities are a significant sector of the market, and our corporate partners are in the vanguard on recognizing this.

The Easter Seals Drop Zone continues to engage the imagination of Canadians as brave participants challenge their own comfort zone and abilities by rappelling down the sides of skyscrapers in all the major cities. We hosted events in 13 cities this year.

The strength of Easter Seals is that through our provincial members, we are able to provide services and support to persons with disabilities in all corners of Canada. Thank you to all provincial members for your continued dedication to excellence.

Sincerely,

Michael Duffy, Chair, Board of Directors & Max Beck, Chief Executive Officer

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ACCESS 2 ENTERTAINMENT

The Easter Seals Access 2 Entertainment Card enables persons with disabilities who require an attendant to become more active in the community by attending a movie or visiting a museum.

The acceptance of this program continues to flourish, with thousands of new members and hundreds of new venues coming on board and accepting the card at their admissions desk.

Now more than ever Canadians are benefiting from the Access 2 Entertainment program; becoming more active and saving on the costs of paying for 2 admissions.

As the program reaches more people, the Easter Seals team is working tirelessly to add new venues and attractions to the program. For the most updated list of places accepting the Access 2 Entertainment card visit our brand new website access2card.ca.

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THE DROP ZONE

The Drop Zone continued as Easter Seals Canada’s marquee event across the country in 2011 with the addition of 3 cities for a total of 13 markets executing events across the country.

The event drew more than 900 participants in 2011 raising over $2 Million across the 8 provinces hosting events.

As usual the media was enthusiastic about this unique fundraising event. Coverage was exceptional. Easter Seals received news and editorial coverage valued at $350,000 in television, radio and print.

The introduction of a new website complimented the growing online traffic for the event as participants continue to use The Easter Seals fundraising system more and more to direct their donors to online fundraising pages to support them in achieving their Drop Zone goals.

For more visit www.thedrozpzone.ca

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CANADA SAFEWAY

Social responsibility is a way of life at Canada Safeway. It’s impressive to see a company, not just donating to a charity, but getting behind it to create awareness and encourage their suppliers to assist in raising funds.

The Canada Safeway “Helping All Youth Reach Their Full Potential” campaign has reached new heights each year in building support for kids with disabilities. Beyond fundraising, the campaign raised awareness by inviting the media and public to participate in special store events.

Throughout April 2011, the grocery retailer and thousands of its employees along with their suppliers across western Canada raised funds and awareness for Easter Seals and Special Olympics Canada. The third annual campaign collected donations from customers and was supplemented by the Canada Safeway Foundation. In total, $1,288,611 was raised for Easter Seals camp programs—an increase of more than 11% over the previous year.

Easter Seals Canada thanks Canada Safeway, its employees and its customers for their generous ongoing support of camp programs across Canada.

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THE PAPER EGG CAMPAIGN

Easter Seals Canada celebrated another successful Paper Egg campaign. Together campaign partners, including Money Mart, Price Chopper, Sobeys and our newest partner Booster Juice raised $210,696 for Easter Seals members all across Canada. During the campaign, enthusiastic staff/ sales clerks encourage customers to purchase paper eggs and write their name on them in a show of support for Canadians with disabilities. During the course of the four week campaign, which ended on Easter Day, the accumulation of these colourful eggs was a testament to the communities’ commitment to make a difference.

Special mention to our Top National Fundraising partner, The Bargain! Shop, which raised a whopping $152,805.

The collective support of over 100,000 individual donors to Paper Eggs demonstrates that a small gesture truly makes a big difference.

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CENTURY 21 KIDS TO CAMP

The Kids to Camp campaign continued to grow over the past year with realtors from across Canada continuing to join their colleagues in setting goals of $2100 to send a Easter Seals kid to camp.

The CENTURY 21 System extended their one-year fund raising totals to an all time high raising over $400,000 across the country for the first time in a single year.

The partnership continues to grow as brokers, realtors and teams from across the country participate in the Easter Seals Drop Zone and the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay, plus many innovative local fund raising initiatives. For Easter Seals, Century 21 are “The Local Experts”. Thank you Century 21!

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FRIENDS OF WE CARE

For over 29 years, We Care has mobilized Canada’s foodservice and hospitality industries to raise money to “Send Easter Seals Kids to Camp”. The Friends of We Care organize a multitude of events like golf, hockey and bowling tournaments, grand Galas, and We Care-Aoke events all across the country. They now raise just over $1 million for Easter Seals.

Friends of We Care work under the simple belief that children with special needs deserve enriching life experiences. By raising funds to send Easter Seals kids to summer camp, they enable physically disabled children to achieve goals they could never have imagined - the chance to play sports like sledge hockey, have high ropes and outdoor adventures, learn important life skills or maneuver a sailboat solo. Going to a summer camp where their disabilities don’t limit their activities builds enormous independence, courage and self-confidence. Most importantly, the camps let the kids focus on their abilities, not disabilities…and simply be kids!

In 2011, Friends of We Care presented Easter Seals Canada with a cheque for $825,000, helping fund summer camp experiences for over 6,000 children with disabilities. Since its inception, Friends of We Care have generated millions of dollars, sending thousands of children with physical disabilities to special summer camps across Canada. This major donation to Easter Seals Canada is supplemented by local fundraising activities in several provinces, bringing the total raise through We Care to over the million dollar mark.

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THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS

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TREASURER’S REPORT

Assets 2012Current Assets 315,674Long-Term Investments 1,102,537Property and Equipment 9,812Total $1,428,023 Liabilities and Net Asset Balances Current Liabilities 139,158Deferred Contributions 215,819Net Assets 1,073,046Total $1,428,023 Revenue Provincial Member Fees 414,000Donations 23,000Easter Seals Fundraising Committee 3,483,958Program Funding and cost Recoveries 253,073Investment Income (loss) 1,870Bequests and Other 165,688Total $4,341,589 Expenses General 487,433National Programs 237,331Easter Seals Fundraising Committee 654,877Disbursements to Provincial Members 2,813,603Brand Building Initiative Bequests to Members 73,612Total $4,266,856 Surplus of revenue over expenses $74,733 11

Board of Directors & National Staff

Michael Duffy, Chair of the Board of DirectorsBob Steeves, Past Chair of the Board of DirectorsMark Cator, Vice Chair, Director at LargeDale Briske, Treasurer, Director at LargeStephen Miller, Director BC Anne Ewen, Director ABTom Spence, Director SKDavid Steen, Director MBRob Berkovitz, Director ONJohn Penhale, Director QCRhonda Rubin, Director NBLorne Moase, Director PEIBarry Saunders, Director NSRoger Power, Director NLDoug Surtees, Chair, Public Affairs CommitteeRon Davidson, Chair, CEO’s CommitteeDon Lawby, Director at Large

Chief Executive OfficerMax Beck

Director of DevelopmentGreg Sarney

Business Development ManagerJason Eano

Development & Communications ManagerCheryl McNamara

National Programs ManagerBrian Chan

Staff AccountantLinette Moreno

Executive AssistantRuth Pereira

Access 2 Entertainment StaffLydia Chan & Lauren Bates

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Thank you for another fantastic year.

Easter Seals Canada is located at:40 Holly Street, Suite 401Toronto, Ontario M4S3C3416.932.8382

EASTERSEALS.CA

On behalf of all Provincial Member Organizations:

Easter Seals British Columbia/Yukon

Easter Seals Alberta

Saskatchewan Abilities Council

Society for Manitobans with Disability

Easter Seals Ontario

Société des enfants handicapés du Québec

Easter Seals New Brunswick

Easter Seals Nova Scotia

Easter Seals Prince Edward Island

Easter Seals Newfoundland & Labrador

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