February Heart Month
A whopping $604,000 was raised for the University of Ottawa Heart Institution #FebruaryIsHeartMonth in the 2019 Heart Month campaign. The funds will help with the expansion of the new building and purchase highly specialized equipment for cardiac patients. Thank you to everyone that donated to such a great cause.
Valecraft’s Support Throughout the Years
Back in the year 2000, while most of us were worrying about the perils of Y2K, Valecraft Homes owner Jean-Guy Rivard and his family were facing serious problems of their own. Jean Guy had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and was in dire need of life-saving heart surgery.
It was a tense time for the close-knit Rivard family. But the doctors at the Ottawa Heart Institute—as they have done so many times for others in this community—performed the surgery that gave Jean-Guy a new lease on life.
And he has been forever grateful.
Unlike all charitable donations from the Valecraft Homes family, this one has a larger purpose.
“I want to give back, of course,” says Jean-Guy, “but I’m also doing it for my own family and the members of the extended Valecraft family. Who knows if someday they or their loved ones might need help?”
At Valecraft, we like to think of ourselves a community builder. And not just because of the homes we build. But also because of the way we take care of each other by supporting health-care and social support organizations around the region.
While it may appear that we are giving back, he says, we are also getting much in return.
“These donations are from all of us and for all of us,” says Jean-Guy. “We all benefit in the long run.”
“We think that by getting involved, by taking responsibility for our growing community and giving a little, we gain a lot,” says Jean-Guy. “We really have become one big family.”
Supporting our Communities
2017 – Valecraft Homes continues to support the University of Ottawa Heart Institute initiatives to support the health of our hearts in our communities. An amazing $476,000 2017 February Heart Month campaign.
February 29, 2016, Valecraft Homes celebrates the Heart Health Month at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. It was a great evening of education, mingling and giving back to our amazing community. We are thankful and lucky to have such amazing facilities and medical care in Ottawa. Frank Nieuwkoop and Diane Brunet presented a $12,500 cheque to help build a Hybrid Operating Room for cardiovascular surgery.
March 1, 2015, two members of the Valecraft family, Frank Nieuwkoop and Diane Brunet, once again presented a cheque to The Heart Institute at the annual Heart Institute Telethon. The $12,500 cheque was part of an ongoing commitment to support the life-saving—and life-changing—hospital helping raise over $7.7 million dollars.
Want to Help or Need Support?
Over the past 31 years, Valecraft has given over $1.5 million to a number of very worthwhile causes, any one of which would dearly love your support. Here are a few of them—we’ve included links in case the spirit moves you.
- Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation
613-761-4790 - Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre
613-798-5555 x17341 or 1-866-399-4432 - Ottawa Heart Institute Patient Alumni
Tel.: 613-761-4370 - Heart And Stroke Foundation, Ottawa
Tel.: 613-727-5060 - Maplesoft Centre for Cancer Survivorship
613-247-3527 - Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health
613-722-6521 - Ottawa Hospital Foundation
613-761-4295 - Montfort Hospital Foundation
613-746-4621 - Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation
613-737-2780 - Bruyèr Foundation
613-562-6319 - Algonquin College
613-727-4723 ext. 7113 - United Way Ottawa
613-228-6700 - Boys And Girls Club of Ottawa
613-232-0925 - Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Ottawa Chapter
613-728-1583 - The Salvation Army
613-613-241-1573 - Shelter From The Storm (Canadian Women’s Foundation)
1-866-293-4483 x222 - Canadian Red Cross
1-800-418-1111 - Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard
613-749-4728 - The Ottawa Mission
613-234-1144