The Power of One - the generosity of two

Photos courtesy of George Webber Photography

Lois Haskayne made a surprise announcement at the naming ceremony for the Haskayne Learning Centre on Sept. 14, 2009.

Lois and Dick Haskayne at the launch of the Haskayne Learning Centre for Graduate and Post-graduate Counselling Studies.

Calgary Counselling Centre is lucky to have fantastic relationships with our key donors. On Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, we were pleased and surprised when one of our donors announced additional generosity at an event intended to acknowledge their past contributions.

At the reception for the renaming of the education program at Calgary Counselling Centre, Lois Haskayne and her husband Dick Haskayne announced a pledge to sponsor a resident bursary for the next five years.

The entire agency was in ship-shape on Sept. 14, 2009. Scrubbed clean for the proud renaming of the education program – to the Haskayne Learning Centre for Graduate and Post-graduate Counselling Studies – we were set to receive Lois and Dick, as well as Friends of CCC for the important event. There were many people at the event who were friends of the Haskayne family and were visiting the Centre for the first time.

During her speech, Lois spoke about the ease of talking about change and yet the exciting challenge, to take on the role of being an instigator of change – the “Power of One”. She put her words into action and announced a $150,000 donation over five years. One post graduate student will have the honour of being chosen annually as the recipient of the Haskayne Bursary.

“We are so pleased to have Lois and Dick’s continued support,” says Robbie Babins-Wagner, CEO. “They believe in our work and especially in our role to help educate so many of the practitioners working in Calgary and throughout Western Canada. Funding our residency program speaks to the change we can make educating students as future counsellors in the bigger picture of good mental health.”

“The contribution by our students is tremendous,” said Robbie in her speech. “Students keep us on our toes: student outcomes are on par with staff outcomes and residents in our program accomplish 800 counselling sessions/hours in their year with the Centre. Students make a huge difference when they graduate too – their best in class training in so many areas of counselling - family violence, eating disorders, depression, addictions and more - lends itself to continued excellence in our field.”

Lois herself has a long history with Calgary Counselling Centre, serving on our Board of directors from 1992 to 2001. During her tenure, she and the Board made tough decisions to move the Centre forward – changing our location to the existing facility and renaming us from the Pastoral Institute to Calgary Counselling Centre. She lives and breathes the idea of the Power of One. She made a huge impact on the people who were lucky to meet her at the renaming ceremony.

The Haskayne Bursary ensures that operationally we can support residents in their continued fields of study. When we get monetary donations to the program, it helps ease the financial burden for Calgary Counselling Centre to support every student trained at the Centre.

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