Last June, Caroline Di Cocco, Minister of Culture, announced that SEVEC (Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada) had received a $226,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). Over the next three years, SEVEC will continue working to increase Ontario students’ awareness of, access to and participation in learning programs that are focused on diversity and youth engagement.

“We’re delighted that we could assist SEVEC in continuing to build more awareness among young people from across the province about the unique opportunities your program has to offer,” said Helen Burstyn, Chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. “It is a good fit with our own goal of building healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario.”

Over the next three years, these funds from OTF will enable SEVEC to hire a fundraising manager and an administrative support person and will also be used to help cover some of the many of the costs associated with operating a program of this size. SEVEC is a national education charity based in Ottawa.

For more than 70 years, SEVEC has offered educational exchanges, trips, and conferences to promote its vision that every child in Canada, no matter his or her financial situation, should have the opportunity to learn, firsthand, about another part of the country and its people.

“SEVEC has provided me and my classmates with a lifetime of happy memories. No student in Canada should be denied an experience such as this,” said Andrew, one of SEVEC’s exchange participants.

There are almost four million children and youth under 25 living in Ontario and almost 40 percent of all Canadian children and youth live in Ontario. Ontario youth traditionally underutilize valuable SEVEC experiential learning programs. The Ontario Trillium Foundation grant allows SEVEC to build capacity in marketing and fundraising in order to expand the number of opportunities reaching Ontario youth as well as their communities.

“We are thankful for the OTF’s commitment to Ontario youth.

This funding will go a long way to help SEVEC ensure that even more youth have opportunity to exchange ideas, experience this magnificent land, and explore different languages and cultures in Canada, no matter what their personal situation may be,” said author Roch Carrier, a SEVE Board member.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the government of Ontario and receives $100 million annually from Ontario’s charity casino initiative. For additional details, please visit www.sevec.ca and Ontario Trillium Foundation at www.trilliumfoundation.org .