Over the last 20 years, the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation has donated close to $1.6 million to support Sun Youth.
As a non-profit organization, Sun Youth provides emergency assistance to people in financial distress to ensure their well-being.
Since 1997, the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation has allowed the organization to help sick people through its medication program. Following the reform of Quebec’s Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan, this service was initially established to provide financial assistance to senior citizens for whom this reform led to increased monthly medication expenses. Today, it is intended for all low income individuals covered by this Insurance plan and helps pay their bills for prescription medication as well as medical equipment not reimbursed by the Quebec Public Insurance Plan up to the maximum required monthly contribution.
In 2005, Sun Youth created the Children’s help program designed to help families during a period where a child is very sick and treated at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Ste-Justine and the Montreal Children’s Hospital. The illness of a child can unfortunately put families into precarious financial situations, causing stress to the parents who may be forced to leave their jobs temporarily or relocate to Montreal to be with their children while they recover, resulting in a reduced income. Once again, the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation was there to help, allowing Sun Youth to assist those families by paying part of their expenses.
Without the continued financial support of the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation these programs would not be made possible. Over the last 20 years, the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation has donated close to $1.6 million to support Sun Youth’s community services, creating a relationship that has helped define the organization as an institution that contributes to the well-being of the community throughout Montreal and Quebec.
President of the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation Marie-Josée Coutu surrounded by Sun Youth’s Ann St Arnaud and Eric Kingsley as they receive the foundation’s $ 91,000 contribution for 2017.