We are pleased to announce our amalgamation with Safe Kids, Safe Communities and SMARTRISK into a new national organization whose vision is to be the strategic injury prevention organization for families, communities, the health sector, researchers, business and governments.
The new organization will be known as Parachute – Leaders in injury prevention.
Parachute’s (first) President & CEO will be Louise Logan, who is presently concluding her work as the inaugural President & CEO of the Public Services Health & Safety Association.
She has also held executive positions at WorkSafeBC.
Louise has a track record of significant accomplishment in injury prevention and has our full support, and the full support of our peer leaders at the other three organizations, and the newly formed Board of Parachute.
The new Board is comprised of executive and governance representatives from these now merged organizations. She will officially join Parachute in September.
The new Board of Directors of Parachute will include both of us.
With the majority of Parachute’s staff enlisted from the four merging organizations, we have been able to preserve the valuable history and expertise of all four founding groups.
This expert, professional staff includes Greer Brabazon, Christine Provvidenza and Samantha Sagar from our ThinkFirst team.
All current programs and resources will continue to be available. All legal, financial and operational aspects necessary for the transition have been well coordinated.
The offices for Parachute are at 36 Eglinton Ave. W., Suite 704, Toronto, Ontario, M4R 1A1. Toronto-area staff from all four organizations is in the process of moving to the new location.
In the short-term, all contact information and websites will remain the same. You will be informed, or redirected, when these contacts change.
The four founding organizations have made huge contributions to injury prevention in Canada, establishing a solid foundation on which Parachute will build.
We want to personally thank each of you for your dedication and commitment to ThinkFirst for the past 20 years.
Together we have been able explain safety to hundreds of thousands of children, youths and adults each year and it is likely that we have enhanced the safety of millions of Canadians during the past 20 years.
We are especially proud of ThinkFirst’s achievements in bringing injury prevention to the classrooms of the nation as part of TD ThinkFirst for Kids, Brain Day, and our teen programs.
We are proud of our ability to interact with numerous coalitions of sports and recreational organizations to improve the safety of hockey, football, soccer, skiing/snowboarding, diving, equestrian activities and many other activities.
As an example of our effectiveness, we played a significant role in the reduction of broken necks in hockey, and we encouraged the proliferation of helmets and helmet legislation in our country.
We intend to carry on many of these programs and activities, and we intend to continue to innovate as we have in the past few years, for example, to become leaders in concussion education.
For all of these accomplishments we are indebted to our numerous partners and volunteers in our chapters, committees and coalitions.
The past 20 years has been a great ride for all of us, and we are so optimistic that the next 20 years will be even greater.
With Louise Logan as our President and CEO and with our new Parachute organization we will prevent even more disabilities and save even more lives!
Please continue your interest, passion and support for injury prevention in Canada through active engagement with Parachute.
Once again, thank you and best regards,
Charles Tator, Founder, ThinkFirst
Paul Montador, President, ThinkFirst, 2011-12
