October 24, 2008

Mont Tremblant Resort will be like a giant party December 12, 13 and 14 with a trendy and avant-garde pop program

Montréal, Quebec, October 24, 2008 − The honorary chairman of the event, Luc Sabbatini, and 24 other well known Quebec personalities were in attendance when the details were unveiled today of the eighth edition of the now classic 24h of Tremblant. It's a major happening that brings together sport, culture and philanthropy.

Alight with enthusiasm, the organizing committee appealed to the general public, to skiing and snowboarding fans and to businesses by inviting them to register and put together teams to participate in the 2008 edition of the 24h, to be held this December. The challenge this year will be to go from 177 to 225 teams and surpass the million dollars raised last year. Because while it's true that the 24h has a performance track for experts, the real inter-team competition is to raise the greatest amount of money for sick and underprivileged children. The Mélanie Turgeon team managed to raise $161,048 last year and the North Face team did an outstanding job as well, raising $155,715. The call is out for whoever can do better this year!

The announcement was followed by a major party at Montreal's TELUS theatre, where participants, donors and collaborators in the biggest fundraising event in the North American ski industry gathered. Volkswagen, TELUS and Radio Energie made big contributions to the event-related aspects of the party, which was planned to highlight the million dollars collected during last year's event and to rally the troops behind the ambitious objectives of the 2008 edition.

Organizers are ambitious…and are providing new tools!

The organizers intend to stand firm in the face of the enormous challenge they're confronting. To meet it, they're offering new "ways and means" to participants, who will be well armed to promote their team and collect online donations via tremblant.ca. Every team will have its own Web 2.0 page, which will allow the general public to follow the event, to see photos of their favourite 24h stars and, above all, to encourage the team of their choice by sending donations right from the website.

"We're proud to be launching this new Web platform. By making communication between participants and donors easier than ever before, we believe we'll surpass the record of a million dollars. First, we'd like to invite the top business executives to make donations online. Second, the teams from corporate environments can send their Web page to their colleagues, friends and acquaintances, inviting them to support them financially. This way the team should collect even larger sums than in the past," explains Simon St-Arnaud, producer of the 24h of Tremblant.

The new star of the 24h !

The organizers will again be supported by perennial event ambassadors Benoît Gagnon, Philippe Fehmiu and Mélanie Turgeon, as well as by a panoply of cultural and sports personalities touched by the cause of children—among them, Steve Podborski, Stéphane Quintal, Martin Deschamps, Denis Fortin, Babu, Éric Salvail, Alain Dumas and even more.  But let's bear in mind that the real stars of the event are the children who benefit from the efforts of participants and donor companies. It's in this spirit that the producer presented the new 24h ambassador: Guillaume Dufour, a 16-year-old adolescent who's had a rhabdominosarcoma since he was six years old.

"I love the 24h and have participated in it for several years. It's an activity that lets me recharge my batteries and top up my energy level. It's a real reward! I'm thrilled to be one of the ambassadors of the 24h along with the celebrities involved, and I'm looking forward to doing my part to make people aware of the human challenges that are represented by 24h in the life of a sick child," said the engaging young man, who demonstrates unusual resilience. Guillaume, who agreed to be followed by a camera for 24 hours, will be the poster boy for a series of reports that will be broadcast on television, on the Tremblant.ca website and on YouTube. The broadcast dates will be announced over the coming month. Young Guillaume wound up his remarks by inviting people to get the event's official tuque, available in a number of businesses in the pedestrian village at Tremblant.

A cultural happening

While the mountain has skiers hurtling down its slopes, the village will be almost as lively, as the party spirit takes up residence there for three whole days. There'll be theme stalls and a program brimming with activities and concerts (indoors and out-) that will allow the more than 1500 participants and some 25,000 visitors to participate in the party and contribute in their own way. Fans of avant garde and pop music will enjoy performances by artists such as Hedley, Creature, Mobile, Beast and Anik Jean. The organization would like to thank all the artists, as well as the many event production professionals who participate in the festivities on a volunteer basis. It allows the organizers to offer visitors a superb festival program while turning over the greatest possible amount of money to the cause of childhood illnesses.

Beneficiaries offer highly promising projects

The Centre de cancérologie Charles-Bruneau will use part of the funds raised to continue its mission for child struggling with cancer. The money raised will also support research financing for cord blood transplant. Since 1980, the cure rate for lymphoblastic leukemia has gone from 35% to 85%. This improvement is directly attributable to research. The Tremblant Foundation, for its part, will finance part of a Lunchbox Club program, which will allow 7700 breakfasts and 2000 hot lunches to be served to area young people. And finally the Ottawa Senators Foundation will support Roger's House and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

Partners who get involved

The success of the 24h of Tremblant is largely attributable to the involvement of our partners. The 24h of Tremblant is powered by Volkswagen in collaboration with TELUS. Molson Dry, Van Houtte, Coca-Cola, Bula, L'artographe and Swiss International Airlines are also proud partners of the event.

For a third consecutive year, Volkswagen is proud to power the 24 h of Tremblant. Again this year, the goal is to raise the greatest possible amount of money to help children via the Fondation Centre de cancérologie Charles-Bruneau. To do this, Volkswagen Canada and the Volkswagen concessionaires of Québec invite you to participate in a contest. In doing so, you'll have a chance to win a two-year rental of the all-new Routan 2009, the generously sized Volkswagen seven-seater.

Partner of the event since now four years, TELUS donated up until today nearly $ 190 000 to the 24h of Tremblant and to invest in Quebec children's health. For a second time since its participation, TELUS sponsors TELUS-Charles-Bruneau racing team. This team will be composed of sick children's friends and families, executive TELUS members and well-known personalities.
 
To find out more
For more information on the 24h of Tremblant, to register or to find out more about all the activities offered at Tremblant during the weekend of December 12, 13 and 14, just check out  tremblant.ca or the 24h official website.

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The documents are in the folder named Lancement 24h – 24 octobre