The key directives for Canadian Legacy Project are to develop and fund programs that support our Canadian Armed Forces Veterans. In parallel to this support, and part of our charitable mandate, is to advocate for our Canadian Veterans, recognize and celebrate our Canadian Veterans, and educate Canadians about our Veterans and the sacrifices they made in standing on guard for Canada. We do this work through the support of the Canadian community and the donations we receive, and we are incredibly grateful for this support.

In honour of those that have stood on guard for Canada we celebrate the achievements of Canadian Legacy Project. Listed are Canadian Legacy Projects accomplishments over the last three years. This list is updated on an annual basis upon approval of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 audited financials by the board of directors at the AGM.

Achievements

 

 

GOT YOUR SIX

Got Your Six provides Veteran to Veteran and Peer to Peer support and camaraderie during the transition from military to civilian life.

Canadian Legacy Project is thrilled to support Heroes Mending on the Fly Canada. This national program is designed to support our Veterans suffering with PTSD through outdoor recreation and peer to peer programming. Their vision is to become recognized across the country as an important leader in the field of therapeutic outdoor recreation for Veterans through its successful application of the sport of fly fishing as a rehabilitation tool. Canadian Legacy Project is confident that our support will help the program across Canada and help more veterans in their time of need.

Goal: To provide $25,000 funding annually to the Heroes Mending on the Fly Canada program.

 

ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING

Veterans Business Boot Camp is a free program being offered to Canadian Military Veterans to develop competencies through the many steps and activities associated with creating and sustaining a business.  

Since the start of the entrepreneurial training program, more than 140 Veterans have participated in the program.

Canadian Legacy Project believes entrepreneurship is a meaningful answer to Veteran joblessness and a meaningful future for Canada’s Military Veterans.

 

UNIVERSITY BURSARY

In 2019 Canadian Legacy Project proudly partnered with Mount Royal University in Calgary to offer an annual bursary to those and /or their immediate family members, that have served or continue to serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. The goal is to offer this annual bursary to students who are experiencing financial need. This one-time investment will enable one student each year to have their tuition paid for. This bursary now lives in perpetuity.

Goal: In perpetuity from 2020 forward, one veteran per year will be the benefactor of the bursary

EDUCATION

Field of Crosses

Canadian Legacy Project invested into the Field of Crosses  annual display as we worked with them to become their own  registered charity. This investment went into developing and presenting the annual display that annually has over 10,000 visitors and over 100,000 Canadians watch the live Global TV broadcast of the Remembrance Day ceremony.  Along with this support, after each morning flag raising ceremony, we hosted 30 to 50 school children at the Kensington Legion for breakfast, resulting in raising awareness for a total of over 400 school children between the ages of 6 to 15 during the eleven day annual event. These students met directly with Veterans and learned from our daily speakers about our Canadian Armed Forces activities during conflicts and peace time missions.

Field of Crosses became independent as a registered Charity in 2018.

School Visits

Our charity directors and approximately 30 of our volunteers annually speak at schools to educate our youth about our Canadian Armed Forces. Talking about those that served and continued to serve during conflict and peacekeeping missions. The goal is to rally our younger generation, so we grow a base of supporters and mobilize collective action to honor these soldiers. We educate over 2,000 students per year through school visits.

Goal: To educate 2,000 students annually

Teacher Activity Guides

Canadian Legacy Project distributes over 500 Remembrance Day Activity Guides per year for teachers across Canada. These booklets focus on grades 4 through 6 and are sent electronically to teachers and can be directly downloaded to educate our youth.

Goal: To continue to provide 500 activity guides per year

Cadets Sponsorship

Canadian Legacy Project sponsors more than 50 cadets per year, through cadet groups so that they can work towards their goals of becoming better citizens of Canada and for some, becoming members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Goal: To continue to sponsor 50 cadets per year

Vigil Books

Canadian Legacy Project has distributed over 1,000 books per year over the last three years, to school children across Canada. “VIGIL: Canada’s Sacrifice in Afghanistan”, reviews Canada’s sacrifices in Afghanistan and serves as a tremendous guide to educate our youth.

The current stock of Vigil books has been completely distributed. Due to a reduction in donations there is no plan for further distribution at this time.

Challenge Coins

Each year more than 250 children put forward acts of kindness towards our Veterans. From hockey teams raising funds for our charity by holding a skate-a-thon, to children asking guests at their birthday parties to bring for food donations for Veterans instead of gifts for themselves. Each time this happens we make sure these children receive one of our challenge coins as a sign of our appreciation for their unselfish acts.

Speaking Engagements

Our board of directors are invited to speak at more than 20 functions, where the audience ranges between 30 to 750 throughout Canada, each year. These opportunities enable our team to expand our reach within the community. More importantly it communicates the message that some of our Veterans who stood on guard for Canada need our support, and in their time of need we as Canadians need to rally in support of them.

Due to COVID-19 we are unfortunately unable at this time to anticipate when public speaking opportunities will restart.

 

VETERANS HOUSING

Canadian Legacy Project is one of the founding partners of the Homes For Heroes Foundation program. Homes For Heroes Foundation  was developed in response to the growing number of Canadian Armed Forces members returning to civilian life who are now facing crisis. Thousands of Veterans are currently living on the streets in Canada and are having a challenging time integrating to civilian life. Homes For Heroes mandate is to build tiny home villages with full wrap around support services across Canada and tackle the issue of homelessness among our Canadian Veterans. Canadian Legacy Project donation total of $500,000 over the past three years has resulted in the purchase of five homes for Veterans experiencing homelessness.

Goal: Being a transitional housing program, each home could house a new tenant every two years, meaning that over the next 15 years this investment will directly support more than 35 Veterans experiencing homelessness.

 

 

FOOD BANK

Canadian Legacy Project is proud to sponsor the Veterans Association Food Bank which is run by volunteers and public donations. Their facility is ready and open to all Veterans. Through our support over the last three years over 700 food hampers per year at a cost of $40 per hamper, have been provided to our Veterans in need.

Goal: To provide annually 600 food hampers through the Veterans Association Food Bank

 

 

FOOD FOR SERVICE DOGS

Food for Service Dogs

The Service Dog Pantry is a program that offers food to our Canadian Armed Forces Veterans’ services dogs. When our Canadian Veterans with service dogs are struggling financially; the Service Dog Pantry is there to provide much needed support. Service Dog Pantry offers a three months supply of dog food gift cards for our Canadian Veterans’ service dogs. The program is designed to be a temporary support service to help our Veterans get back on their feet but if the support is needed for a longer periods time, Veterans can re-apply as needed. Over the last three years our investment into the program has resulted in 3,500 bags of dog food ($20 per bag) for our Veterans living in poverty who have service dogs.

Goal: To provide annually 1,250 bags of dog food through The Service Dog Pantry

 

 

CVETS Pets

Annually Canadian Legacy Project sponsors the CVETS PETS http://www.cvetspets.com/ gala which enables them to raise significant funds for their non-for-profit organization. CVETS PETS focuses on providing Veterans who have service dogs, a starter dog kit as they begin their journey and partnership together. The expenses related to having a service dog cannot be understated, and the CVETS PETS programs is therefore able to offer these kits fee of charge, to assist in development of the bond between service dog and Veteran. Over the last three years our sponsorship has resulted in the donation of more than 21 service dog kits, at a cost of $400 each.

Goal: To sponsor annually the CVETS PETS fundraising gala in order to provide 20 service dog kits

 

 

CELEBRATION AND RECOGNITION

Annual Veterans Concert Series

Annually the Canadian Legacy Project presents a concert to celebrate and recognize those that served in the Canadian Armed Forces. This provides the opportunity for our supporters to give back to our Veterans and offer them a night of celebration for their efforts.  Most important however, is that this provides for a free night out which many who live in poverty seldom get the opportunity to do. It is important to understand that our board does not showcase this event as a fundraiser, as it is not intended to be that. It is a chance to host and celebrate those that once stood on guard for Canada. As a board we do not see this as a cost of fundraising, as it is not intended to be that. Over the last three years more than 5,000 Veterans have been able to enjoy this experience.

Goal: To celebrate and recognize 2,000 Veterans and their families per year through our Annual Veterans Concert Series.