Corporate donations to worthy causes are nothing unusual in Calgary.

They happen every day.

But rarely has a company’s support for a charitable cause so captivated its employees the way it has at Gowlings, a law firm that never tires of spreading the word about Calgary’s One World Child Development Centre.

The centre assists and educates young children whose families have landed in hard times, typically enduring poverty, homelessness and emotional upheaval.

Above, Christy Hall, marketing manager of Gowlings, gets to know one of the children at the centre. Below, another child enjoys a musical moment.

Every weekday, when about 32 of these preschool children and 10 kindergarten children sit down for a nutritious meal, Gowlings has paid for the food. When the kindergarten program was established last fall at the 16-month-old centre, Gowlings supplied the educational materials.

After receiving a brochure explaining One World and the firm’s involvement, the professionals and staff alike have made efforts to boost donations and awareness even further.

It’s as if they’ve adopted the child-centred facility as their own.

Christy Hall, Marketing Manager at Gowlings, was amazed when she saw the One World Centre first-hand.

“You hear stories of how these children interacted when they first enrolled with the centre, and when I stop by and visit with the kids and talk to them, the difference is unbelievable,” she says. “They’re happy, they’re energetic, they’re learning. You see kids sitting around actually reading, and some of them have never owned their own book before.”

The joy is infectious, she says.



“Because it deals with children, everyone gets involved and excited about the centre, people within the firm are really eager to participate because it is such a fantastic program for children.”

One World is an initiative by the Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS) that had its origins in the society’s downtown building. Homeless people and other parents who came in for help had nowhere to leave the children, many of whom lacked formal schooling and social structure.

But proper licensing for child care was never possible in the CUPS building, so One World director Sabine Harris searched for a suitable, permanent home for the centre. She found it in a former nightclub, Coconut Joe’s, at 11th Avenue and 6th Street S.W.

With funding from a variety of sources, it opened up in December 2002. From the beginning, there has been no shortage of kids in need. There is a waiting list, in fact.

“A lot of our children have special needs, and so a big component of our program is to assess their needs through speech and language, and educational psychologists,” says Harris. “We put them on an Individual Program Plan, or IPP.

“We want to provide them with the education that they need, and also when they transition into Grade 1, the teacher who receives them knows what strategies work for this child. They can jump right in and work with this child, as opposed to them going through the whole assessment process again.”

The children receive dental and psychological assessments, and vision and hearing tests, the assembled information designed to ensure the kids will be on an equal footing with others when they move into the public school system.

Because of their home situation, many of the children wouldn’t even have proper nutrition otherwise.

“We try and provide two-thirds of the caloric intake for the day, following the Canadian health food guide, because the children are not receiving adequate nutrition at home,” Harris says.

“We give them a really hearty breakfast, lunch and a healthy afternoon snack before they go home again.”

Some results are less tangible but just as important. Teachers and others at the centre marvel at the beaming look on parents’ faces when their child proudly displays some work or art, his or her first accomplishment ever in a structured school setting.

“I met the children and have been lucky enough to spend time with them," Christy Hall says.

“It’s just an incredible program. They give these children such an amazing start, kids that would have never have had this opportunity otherwise.”

There is also help for adults needing parenting skills, job-search training and other useful knowledge.

Harris is grateful to the part played by Gowlings in helping to finance the kindergarten with a $5,000 initial donation plus on-going support.

“They are absolutely amazing,” she says. “They spent quite a bit of time with us and did that wonderful brochure about our program, so everybody in the company is aware of where the funds go.”

“CUPS receives amazing support from several Calgary corporations, Apache for example, hosts a very successful annual fundraiser. But after my initial visit to the centre, I knew we wanted to focus our support specifically on the children.”

Hall says publicizing One World is important to Gowlings because “nobody knows this program exists.”

“The program is incredible but it really needs community support to be a success.”

For more information, call One World at 403.264.2217 or 403.265.2246; or Christy Hall at Gowlings at 403.298.1906.