RSM Canada raises over $220,000 through 2020 Birdies Fore Love Campaign

• Funds to support children and families served by nonprofits nationwide
• Part of $4 million raised from RSM offices across North America

RSM Canada – the leading global provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market – is proud to announce that more than $220,000 was raised in Canada towards the firm’s 2020 Birdies Fore Love charitable giving campaign.

The annual campaign sees RSM employees in both Canada and the United States raise funds for charitable organizations dedicated to enhancing educational outcomes or the quality of life for children and families. This year, RSM offices across North America collectively raised a total of over $4 million.

“Last year, in only our second year of participating in Birdies Fore Love, RSM offices across Canada contributed $207,000 to select charities,” said Rhonda Klosler, chief operating officer and Toronto market leader at RSM Canada. “To surpass that amount this year, particularly given the current economic climate and challenges of working within a virtual environment, is a remarkable accomplishment. I am incredibly proud of our staff for their stewardship efforts, and am grateful to those who donated towards our campaign.”

This year’s fundraising goal was reached through numerous and imaginative virtual staff fundraising events, and also from several generous external donors.

“Our staff’s ability to adapt and adjust, and to focus on the needs and challenges of the charities they supported, showcases yet again the importance that RSM places on giving back to the communities where we live,” added Harry Blum, national managing partner at RSM Canada. “We are very proud of our firm and look forward to another successful campaign in 2021.”

Below are the charitable organizations that will benefit from RSM Canada’s fundraising campaign this year:

• Headquartered in Toronto, ON, Camp Oochigeas (Camp Ooch) is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and families affected by cancer through recreational programming. Among this programming is an overnight camp in Ontario’s Muskoka region that allows children to play and ‘be kids’, giving them a moment of respite from their illnesses. A unique feature of Camp Ooch is that children are able to continue with cancer treatment during their time at camp through state-of-the-art facilities and the support of medical volunteers.
• Based in Edmonton, Kids with Cancer Society provides unique and vital programs and services free of charge to children and families in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. They offer more than 50 programs and services that address the unique and complex needs of patients and their families ranging from family support programs and activities, peer support, activities, counselling services, and financial and education support.
• The Boys & Girls Club of Red Deer and District empowers youth by fostering a community of support. Their network seeks to instill young people with confidence in their unique identities and abilities, while providing safe environments to learn and grow. They aim to address the unique individual needs of youth in their community and apply a collective, unified approach to all of their programs and services that inspire youth empowerment.
• Brown Bagging For Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK) provides lunches for approximately 4,400 kids each school day. BB4CK works with school staff members to identify needs and to plan how best to make sure hungry students get the nutrition they need to think clearly and learn. They believe that by enabling better education outcomes, BB4CK gives students a hand up, not just a handout.

In 2018, in conjunction with the PGA TOUR, RSM expanded the RSM Birdies Fore Love program through an on-course competition over the first eight events of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. They expanded the program further in 2019 to include the first 11 events of the 2019-20 season, bringing the grand total raised for charity through the on-course competition to more than $1 million.

This year’s winner, Corey Conners, who hails from Listowel, Ontario, won the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition by making the most birdies, or better, since the start of the 2020-21 season. Conners’ winnings of $300,000 will benefit a foundation that he and his wife recently established to help provide children with educational and athletic opportunities they couldn’t otherwise afford. Through the on-course Birdies Fore Love competition, winning players are encouraged to designate the funds to charitable organizations dedicated to building tomorrow’s middle market leaders through programs that support education, as well as organizations committed to improving the lives of youth through a focus on hunger, housing and health.

To learn more about RSM’s philanthropic efforts, check out the RSM US Foundation Giving Report.

About Birdies Fore Love

Birdies Fore Love is RSM’s charitable giving platform for The RSM Classic, a PGA TOUR event for which RSM is title sponsor. Through this program, RSM people raise funds for deserving charitable organizations focused on enhancing educational outcomes and the quality of life for children and families.

Each year, RSM offices commit to raising funds for local charitable organizations aligned with the missions of the RSM US Foundation and the Davis Love Foundation, the host organization of The RSM Classic. RSM Birdies Fore Love office champions coordinate fun activities that help their respective locations reach fundraising and participation goals.

Over the past 10 years, The RSM Classic has donated more than US$17 million to help charities that support children and their families, with US$4.6 million being donated to 70 deserving charities selected by our local offices in 2019 alone.

About The RSM Classic

The RSM Classic is an official PGA TOUR event hosted by professional golfer and 2017 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, Davis Love III. The 2020 tournament was held on Nov. 16 – 22 at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island in Georgia’s Golden Isles. The Davis Love Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, manages and operates the tournament, and has donated more than $13 million to charities that support children and families in need. For more information about The RSM Classic and the Davis Love Foundation, visit rsmclassic.com.