In 2007, NAL Insurance launched their Trucking for Wishes campaign in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation^®. To date the campaign has raised over $72,390 to help grant wishes in Southwestern Ontario! To learn more about the Trucking for Wishes campaign, please visit www.truckingforwishes.com. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is grateful for the continued support of NAL Insurance and the Trucking for Wishes campaign.

Media Release: Yellow Pages Group Rewards NAL Insurance For its Community Involvement 

Montreal (Quebec), May 14, 2009 –Yellow Pages Group announces NAL Insurance as one of the ten winners of its Make It Real program’s fourth edition. The company will receive a $6,500 award for its outstanding contribution to the London community.

NAL Insurance, an insurance provider specializing in the transportation industry, was selected by local judges for the foundation of the Trucking for Wishes program which supports children with life threatening illnesses. Since the program’s inception in 2007, it has raised more than $75,000 for Make-A-Wish of Southwestern Ontario with the support of the trucking industry.

“We are honoured to be selected as one of the 2009 Make It Real Program award recipients,” says Aaron Lindsay, Fleet Service Manager, NAL Insurance. “We have truly made the Trucking for Wishes program a part of our business culture. Our success would not be possible without the volunteer efforts of our wonder staff.”

“Given the current economy, it becomes important more than ever to encourage Canadian small businesses like NAL Insurance to find the time, energy, money and human resources to support their local communities,” says Annie Marsolais, Director of Corporate Communications for Yellow Pages Group. “Whether it’s coordinating a fundraising event or initiating an environmental program, it’s inspiring to see so many small businesses continuing to give back to their communities.”

Local charity also benefits from Make It Real

As part of the Make It Real program, winners are called upon to donate $1,500 of their prize to a charitable organization. NAL Insurance has selected Make-A-Wish of Southwestern Ontario as their charity of choice.

The Make It Real program is designed to recognize and reward small companies of 50 or fewer employees that have shown an exceptional degree of social responsibility. Their actions could take the form of volunteering, fundraising or financial contributions to a worthy cause, environmental initiatives, or other charitable endeavours.

For more information about the Make It Real program, visit www.ypg.com/makeitreal.   

Yellow Pages Group

Yellow Pages Group is Canada's leader local commercial search provider. It publishes annually more than 340 Yellow Pages™ and residential directories. The Company owns and manages Canada's most visited online directories, YellowPages.ca™ and  Canada411.ca™, as well as CanadaPlus.ca™, a network of seven local city sites. Yellow Pages Group is indirectly held by Yellow Pages Income Fund (TSX: YLO.UN). For more information, visit www.ypg.com.

YPG places great emphasis on corporate social responsibility in areas such as the environment, community involvement, charitable giving and corporate governance. For the last years, YPG has been named one of Canada’s 10 most admired corporate cultures, Canada’s Top 100 Employers by McLean’s Magazine, one of the Top 10 best companies to work for by the Financial Post, and one of the 15 best employers in Montreal by The Gazette and Le Devoir. For more information, visit www.ypg.com.


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Media Contacts: 

Valérie Lamarre

Manager, Corporate Communications
Yellow Pages Group

514-934-2770

valerie.lamarre@ypg.com

 
Caroline Nybo

Porter Novelli Canada

604-602-6405

caroline.nybo@porternovelli.com
 

A Heart of Gold

By Lyndsay Lindsay

It all started when Aaron Lindsay met my five-year-old triplet cousins; Colin, Sabrina and Dylan. Sabrina suffers from Cerebral Palsy, is dependent on a walker and Colin has been diagnosed with a rare life-threatening illness called Hurler’s Syndrome. Hurler’s syndrome occurs in about one of every 100,000 babies and early death occurs due to organ damage. Colin has been through so much in his five years; doctor’s appointments, bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy that kept him in the Hospital for Sick Children for six months - and he now will be going through many more surgeries.

After learning about these children, Aaron couldn’t help but get involved and make a difference. “These kids have given me my wish, which is the inspiration to take action and help them and the other 68 children currently waiting for their wishes.” said Aaron.

Aaron works for NAL Insurance and, being in the trucking industry, he wanted to give back and benefit the industry in a positive way. He is the force behind Trucking for Wishes; founded by NAL. In only 13 months, Trucking for Wishes has donated over $66,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Southwestern Ontario to help grant children’s wishes.

Working with Southwood Graphics (Vehicle Graphic Artists), Avery Graphics (Material Suppliers) and Provincial Trailer Rentals, Aaron created a Vehicle “Wrap” on a 53 foot trailer. The Wrap features the logos of sponsor companies from the trucking industry, related industries and friends’ and associates’ companies. Sponsors that have contributed through Trucking for Wishes can be seen at www.truckingforwishes.com. 

Aaron has become so committed to this charity that he is expanding to other provinces. He was recently in Calgary for the Pro Trucker Magazine truck show and decided to contact the Calgary chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and see if there were any children on their wish list that would like to ride in the fastest Big Rig dragster in North America. A child named Tyler attended and was so thrilled that he was the ONLY person to sit in that passenger seat on an actual run down the track. Aaron made sure that Tyler and his family had a great day. It was as if their wish had come true.

The reason I’m writing this article is because I truly am so proud of Aaron. He is such an extraordinary person, at such a young age, to have accomplished such great things for children. He has such high energy and confidence with the work he does for this charity and he strives to make each event more successful than the previous one. I wanted Aaron to be commended for the work he has done and for all the smiles he has put on children’s faces. From the words of William Arthur Ward; Aaron shows “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”