Global Television

Goes "Out on a Limb" for Stanley Park

Telethon Sparks a Generous Outpouring of Community Support

Global Television's community spirit set a new standard of excellence with its quick and creative response to the December storm that devastated Stanley Park. From January 8th through the 12th, during the evening news, Global helped to inspire a generous outpouring of public support to help restore the park. The event was kicked-off with special guest, community leader, philanthropist and legendary businessman, Jimmy Pattison, who pledged to match every dollar raised up to $1 million, which leveraged an additional $1.7 million in pledges from corporations and individuals.

Global enlisted other guest celebrities, told the park's stories and encouraged everyone to support the recovery of this beloved national treasure. Global enlisted the help of volunteers from Coast Capital Savings who took the phone calls during the telethon and also accepted donations at their branches. Volunteers from the Vancouver Aquarium also jumped in to help generate donations during the morning news on Thursday and Friday. Response was tremendous- more than 3,000 calls were received over the five day period. Pledges ranged from $10 to $100,000 from individuals far and wide and our province's corporate community. The total donations pledged? $2.7 million!

Park Board Chair Ian Robertson made this comment. "We are grateful to Global for what they have accomplished. The telethon initiated a massive outpouring of support from all corners of the Province. It is gratifying to know that there is this level of concern for the park. The generosity of our donors will ensure that we will be able to carry out the extensive restoration work needed for the park's recovery."

"The people of BC really deserve the kudos as we couldn't have done it without their support," says Clive Jackson, Global BC's managing editor. "The destruction of one of the city's crown jewels has impacted many, including the team here at Global BC, which is why we initiated this fundraiser. We received overwhelming response from our viewers and the business community - we had donations from pensioners, a high school who gave up their Spring Dance fund as well as significant contributions from corporations."

During the week-long telethon, Global BC received $489,496 from public contributions and $1,057,500 from corporate donations, plus $1 million from Vancouver businessman Jim Pattison, who matched donations dollar-for-dollar up to that amount. After the telethon ended, all branches of Coast Capital Savings continued to accept cheques for the Restoration Fund until the end of January.

The Park Board is grateful to Global for their community leadership and hard work. Thanks to all who gave so generously during the telethon!

www.globaltvbc.com

About Global Television

Global Television is owned by CanWest MediaWorks Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CanWest Global Communications Corp, (CanWest) (NYSE: CWG; TSX: CGS and CGS.A, www.canwestglobal.com). CanWest, an international media company, is Canada's largest media company. In addition to owning the Global Television network, CanWest is Canada's largest publisher of daily newspapers, and also owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, web sites and radio networks in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom.

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