$66,000 raised for Dans la rue

MONTREAL, Oct. 13, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - On Wednesday, October 12th, 2011, more than 300 Aeroplan employees from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver joined together to raise awareness of the conditions in which homeless youth live while also raising money to help them. Over a period of two days, employees participated in activities geared around supporting kids on the street, including sandwich making for the homeless, street fund raising for Dans la rue, insights and learnings from a homeless veteran and a sleep-out in a parking lot in downtown Montreal.

Aeroplan employees raised more than $33,000 and Aeroplan has increased its match to $33,000 for a total of $66,000 in support of Dans la rue (www.danslarue.com), an organization dedicated to supporting homeless youth in Montreal.

"Supporting our local communities is a big part of our culture at Aeroplan and a key objective," said Kevin O'Brien, Chief Commerical Officer, Aeroplan.  "This experience gave our employees an opportunity to assist homeless youth and the money raised by our employees will go a long way in supporting key services at Dans la rue and help to build a stronger community."

"Dans la rue is pleased to be partnering with Aeroplan and its employees during their Aeroplan Days event," said Aki Tchitacov, Executive Director of Dans la rue. "It is important to realize that one person CAN make a difference. Each and every employee's action will have a considerable impact not only on the lives of our youth, but on every person they encounter on the streets during these 2 days. They will bring about positive change."

For more information on this event please visit: www.aeroplangivesback.com.

Community Investment at Aeroplan
Aeroplan has a number of programs designed to give back to both our local communities and abroad.  Aeroplan's Beyond Miles program invites Aeroplan Members to join us in supporting nine Canadian charitable organizations through the donation of Aeroplan Miles. To donate miles, members simply visit www.aeroplan.com/donate. Since the program was launched in 2006, more than 200 million Aeroplan Miles have been donated by members. Aeroplan offsets 100 per cent of all carbon emissions from flights taken by Beyond Miles partners using donated miles. In 2011, Aeroplan donated 1.25 million miles to each of its partner organizations.

Aeroplan also announced recently that members can now automatically donate 2 per cent of all miles accumulated to any Beyond Miles partner of their choice. Members interested in donating 2 per cent of their Aeroplan Miles simply visit their profile page on aeroplan.com, select the donation opt-in and the Beyond Miles partner they would like their miles to go to. More information is available at www.aeroplan.com/donate.

In addition, Aeroplan also has a Charitable Pooling program that allows members to use miles to support individuals, families or local grass roots community charities in need. Since inception, members have pooled more than 57 million miles into over 430 pooling accounts across the country.

Aeroplan's Beyond Miles program and other community investment initiatives can now be found on Twitter. Follow us at: http://twitter.com/BeyondMiles.

About Aeroplan
Aeroplan, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, is owned by Groupe Aeroplan Inc., doing business as Aimia, a global leader in loyalty management.

Aeroplan's millions of members earn Aeroplan Miles with its growing network of over 75 world-class partners, representing more than 150 brands in the financial, retail, and travel sectors.

In 2010, over 2 million rewards were issued to members including more than 1.4 million flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers which offer travel to more than 1,000 destinations worldwide. In addition to flights, members also have access to over 800 exciting specialty, merchandise, hotel, car rental and experiential rewards. 

For more information about Aeroplan, please visit www.aeroplan.com or www.aimia.com.

Image with caption: "Aeroplan and its employees raised $66,000 for Dans la rue. (CNW Group/AEROPLAN CANADA INC.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20111013_C3656_PHOTO_EN_4445.jpg

Image with caption: "130 Aeroplan employees sleep on the street in support of homeless youth. (CNW Group/AEROPLAN CANADA INC.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20111013_C3656_PHOTO_EN_4443.jpg