Mission

CHANCE Foundation envisions a world where ALL children have access to regular visits with a doctor, the opportunity to use their education to make a living, and the chance to play and be a kid. To realize this dream, our projects focus on three pillars which we believe are essential to child welfare; (1) health, (2) education, and (3) recreation.

History

“As Canadians we have so much to be thankful for and it is important that we help others who are not as fortunate” – Shannon Tessier

This is what Shannon Tessier, founder of CHANCE, thought after becoming a volunteer with the Volunteer Abroad program and studying in Ecuador, South America. Soon after becoming a volunteer, Shannon’s attention focused in on San Cristobal, the second largest human settlement of Ecuador’s volcanic island chain, which is in the Galapagos Islands. After learning that 50 per cent of San Cristobal’s population falls below the poverty line and that infant mortality is roughly five times higher than in Canada, Shannon’s sights were set on helping improve the lives of the children living in this community.

In May 2007 Shannon’s vision developed into something much bigger when she founded CHANCE, which at the time stood for the Charity of Hope to Assist the Needy Children of Ecuador. For CHANCE’s first project, Shannon chose to bring help to the Oscar Jandl hospital. This hospital which serves 90 per cent of the community in San Cristobal, was in desperate need of medical equipment and supplies. Shannon recruited like-minded individuals for CHANCE and these volunteers immediately began turning this goal into a reality.

In March 2008, CHANCE had the honour of delivering $250,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies to the Oscar Jandl hospital in San Cristobal, Ecuador. A special thanks to Dave Smith, an Ottawa philanthropist, who donated all the used medical equipment.

Since then, CHANCE evolved and became the Charity of Hope to Assist Needy Children Everywhere, and in 2009 began its second project. CHANCE formed a partnership with SchoolBox Inc., a Canadian charity that empowers impoverished children through education. Since 2007, SchoolBox had been supporting the children of the Jezreel School in Managua, Nicaragua and needed CHANCE’s support in order to build a new permanent school for the community.

CHANCE recently completed a fund raising cycle for their third project to make an even bigger impact on the lives of children. For its third project, CHANCE focused on recreation in the Ottawa area. CHANCE partnered with the Max Keeping Foundation to support families in need in the Ottawa area so that their children can undertake extra-curricular recreational activities such as hockey, soccer, gymnastics, etc. In addition, CHANCE partnered with the City of Ottawa to refurbish a park in the Ottawa area. Construction for Bingham park in Lowertown will begin Spring 2013.

CHANCE is currently deciding on their fourth project – so stay tuned for more details!