For Immediate Release
UNISON BENEVOLENT FUND PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT DONATIONS CONTINUE TO ROLL IN
UBF expects to go live in late fall 2011
Toronto, Ontario – August 10, 2011 The Unison Benevolent Fund is proud to announce that donations continue to roll in and that the entire Canadian music industry is taking to this special cause with some unique and exciting fundraising ideas and opportunities. With an online fundraising platform (powered by Artez) now in place, Unison encourages members of the music industry to help drive donations to the $1 million mark – the threshold set for Unison to become operational.
Keeping in the true spirit of the Unison Benevolent Fund – that is has been created for the music industry, by the music industry, Shauna deCartier of Six Shooter Records has made a generous donation on her company’s behalf. Shauna comments: “The donation was made in lieu of Christmas gifts to our artists. We are very interested in building a community of artists, and so I can’t think of a more appropriate charity to support during the holiday season - or any other season, for that matter.”
Earlier this year, Manitoba Music also took up the cause, along with their event partner, Manitoba Film & Music with their Manitoba Music Rocks Charity Curling Bonspiel. Over 100 musicians and members of the local music industry came out to participate and support the cause. The Bonspiel generated tremendous goodwill and awareness for Unison – and Manitoba Music is eagerly anticipating their “Second Annual” this winter.
Unison Founder, Jodie Ferneyhough has undertaken his own unique fundraising initiative – he will be participating in an IronMan competition later this month, and is collecting pledges which will be donated to UBF. If you’re interested in sponsoring Jodie in this endeavour, please visit: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1176165&langPref=en-CA
The Unison Benevolent Fund is an assistance and referral program – created and administered for the music industry, by the music industry. Unison is designed to provide discreet relief to music industry personnel in times of personal hardship and crisis. The first two priorities for Unison are the Emergency Relief Fund and the creation of a counseling service, similar to the Employee Assistance Programs often available to staff of larger organizations. Details on the launch of these services will be announced soon.
Those who are interested in: learning more about the Unison Benevolent Fund, making a donation, finding out how to help the cause, or accessing Unison’s services are encouraged to visit www.unisonfund.ca and register. Although registration is not required for services, it will expedite the process should an emergency funding request be made, and will also allow Unison to keep registrants up to date on discounts and benefits on offer.
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Media Contacts:
Unison Benevolent
Fund D2 communications
Shelia Hamilton Dawn
Dwyer
416.479.0675 416.583.5048
shamilton@unisonfund.ca dawn@d2communications.ca
The Unison Benevolent Fund is an assistance and referral program – created and administered by the music industry, for the music industry. A registered charity established in 2010, the Unison Benevolent Fund was designed to provide discreet relief to music industry personnel in times of personal hardship and crisis. The Unison Benevolent Fund’s short –term objective is to provide emergency financial assistance and crisis management to those in need, as well as counseling services (personal, financial and bankruptcy, career and legal). The long-term objective is to provide low cost group insurance (health, life, home, auto, gear, etc).
