Y Fore Kids

Mr. Ed Holder (London West, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I advise the House that thousands of London kids will now be able to experience camp for the first time in their lives.

    Thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers, a group which I was privileged to chair, our Y Fore Kids committee raised more than $1 million in just nine years, and created an endowment that will send less privileged kids from our London region to YMCA camps. To raise $1 million is an extraordinary event, and this $1 million endowment will be the gift that keeps on giving.

     Colleagues, we all know how a camp experience can create better kids through leadership, opportunity and hope in a safe learning environment.

    For these children, London's kids, Canada's kids, this will serve as one of the singular most powerful experiences they will ever receive.

    I need to thank our sponsors and donors and especially want to acknowledge our title sponsors, Stevenson & Hunt Insurance, the Hilton London and TD Bank. Their generosity and those of hundreds of other corporations over the years have our deepest gratitude.

    To all of our volunteers, from the kids who will never know who they are, whose lives they have changed forever, thanks for caring so much.