Who: Vermilion Energy Trust
What: Help women and their children escape poverty by funding the Vermilion/YWCA Skills Training Centre, which trains women in carpentry and provides the support they need to be successful in the construction industry.
Why They’re on the A-List: Vermilion has donated more than $4 million for the training centre’s 16-week program.
There’s an old saying that goes, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” It’s this philosophy that aptly describes the philanthropic style of the Friends of Vermilion, except the man is a woman and the fishing is carpentry and construction — but you know what we mean.
Friends of Vermilion is comprised of Lorenzo Donadeo, president and CEO of Vermilion Energy Trust, his friends and family, and Vermilion’s board members, management and staff members. Together they share a commitment to investing in people, helping build their confidence and equipping them with the tools to escape poverty and abuse.
The carpentry program is the product of a relationship with the YWCA that began several years ago when Donadeo stepped in to provide emergency funding for the YWCA’s Sheriff King Home, which was facing a crisis. After learning about the YWCA’s programming around domestic violence, homelessness and poverty, Donadeo wanted to do more. So he committed to helping women break the cycle of poverty by donating $2.5 million to kick-start a new program called the Vermilion/YWCA Skills Training Centre.
“We have focused on homelessness and poverty because there is a feeling that came largely from Lorenzo and the executive here, that we tend to be quite fortunate, as are many Calgarians,” says Kia Pyrcz, community investment and internal communications advisor at Vermilion. “He has said on more than one occasion that, ‘To those who much is given, much is expected.’?”
In 2008, Friends of Vermilion raised an additional $1.5 million for the program, a 16-week carpentry program that teaches women everything they need to become successful in the construction industry, including shop instruction, communication skills and fitness training. Friends of Vermilion funds the program, subsidizes tuitions, funds childcare if needed and even sends graduates off with tool belts and new tools for their first day on the job. The YWCA also provides an arts-and-recreation program for children whose mothers are at the Skills Training Centre.
“I would probably be living in a car with my two children trying to survive with a part-time job if it weren’t for the YWCA and Vermilion Energy Trust,” says a 26-year-old participant, who was living at YWCA of Calgary’s transitional housing program with her two small children after fleeing an abusive marriage. She also recently graduated from the skills program.
What can you do?
Volunteer with the YWCA in any of a number of positions including fundraising and clerical support. Call 403-294-7343 or visit ywcaofcalgary.com, click on YWCA and then How to Help to find the volunteer application and to make donations.
Return to the Avenue A-List 2009 Main Page
Post new comment