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TSUNAMI RELIEF (2005)

In 2005 the USL Foundation donated $15,000 to the Build a Boat Relief Fund whose goal was to assist the locals of Railay Bay, Thailand.   This area is only accessible by boat and large foreign aid organizations were not able to effectively meet the needs of the region.  The Foundation’s financial contribution was used to assist local boatmen (and their families) in building boats to replace those that had been destroyed by the tsunami.  The boats are critical to transportation, fishing and merchandising in the area so getting boats back on the water helped the locals to become self-sufficient once again.

AIDS Support (2005)

The Foundation’s Board recognized that because of worldwide attention on the tsunami and the significant donations made to its victims, there may have been fewer funds available and directed towards other disasters in the world.  As such, the Foundation decided to also provide a $10,000 donation to Uganda’s AIDS Support Organization whose mission is to contribute to a process of restoring hope and improving the quality of life of persons and communities affected by HIV infection and disease.

BC FOREST FIRES (2003)

In 2003 forest fires burned out of control in the interior of British Columbia.  These fires had a deep impact on staff from our Kelowna and Kamloops offices as many of them had to be evacuated from their homes.  Fortunately nobody at Urban Systems lost their homes.  Our staff rallied together and responded to the fire situation.  Barbeques were held in both Kamloops and Kelowna to collect money for the fire relief fund.  Urban Systems provided all the food and staff provided donations totalling more than $1,400.  Urban Systems also donated professional advice and participated in a community conference focused on effective fire and emergency response planning.

BRAZILIAN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL (2000)

One of the Foundation’s first donations came in response to a request by one of our partners in Urban Systems. He was involved with a group of people that were raising funds to build a vocational school in Brazil specifically for the purpose of helping street youth to develop skills and become self-supporting. This project was seen to be in sync with the Foundation’s objectives and as such a donation of $6,500 was made. The group leveraged our donation to the tune of $20,000, which in turn served as seed money for getting the project started.

 

 

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