CN donates $250,000 to Royal Alexandra Hospital in support of children's health and injury prevention

EDMONTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - CN today announced a $250,000 donation to the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation in support of children's health and community injury prevention.

With this donation, CN and the Royal Alexandra Hospital have created the CN Injury Prevention Lecture Series featuring prominent Edmonton physician and safety expert Dr. Louis Francescutti.

"Safety is a core principle at CN," says Paul Miller, CN's Chief Safety and Transportation Officer. "We have a strong history of working to promote health and safety, near railway tracks and in our communities, in playgrounds, in homes and schools across our system. We're proud to partner with the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation to raise the overall safety."

CN's donation extends past these lecture series and will fund a future study of inner city health, focusing on the health needs of the children most affected by unemployment and homelessness.

Dr. Francescutti, an emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, is an internationally regarded expert on injury control. He was recently named president-elect of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In addition, Dr. Francescutti is a judge of the CN Safer Alberta Awards, an annual initiative honouring community and youth safety programs across the province.

A sought-after speaker who presents to private industry and government bodies across the globe, Dr. Francescutti's important and timely presentations for the CN Injury Prevention Lecture Series will be offered free to the public. The inaugural lecture, titled Keeping Youth Safe In the Workplace, is taking place at the hospital the evening of Thursday, April 22, 2010.

"Our twice-annual lecture series has become a must-attend event for many Edmontonians," says Andrew Otway, President and CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation. "Attendees leave our lectures armed with new and vital information on a variety of health topics, and they continue to tell us how grateful they are for this service. The CN Injury Prevention Lecture featuring Dr. Francescutti will add a new and exciting dimension and attract new audiences previously unaware of the series."

As an Imagine Caring Company, CN is committed to contributing one per cent of pre-tax profit to registered, non-profit organizations in communities where our employees work and where we operate our business. Through the CN Stronger Communities Fund, the company supports health and safety programs for young people, transportation education, the CN Railroaders in the Community employee volunteer grant program, and United Way.

CN employs more than 1,500 people in Edmonton and has operated trains here for more than a century.

About CN

CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.

About the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation

The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation raises funds to support one of northern Alberta's largest teaching and research hospitals. Donor contributions enhance the Royal Alexandra Hospital as a centre for health care excellence, whether for research, education or new equipment. The Foundation is also the charitable arm of Alberta's only dedicated women's hospital, the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, which will open to patients in spring 2010.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation is currently running several capital campaigns including the Campaign for the C.K. Hui Heart Centre and, in partnership with the University Hospital Foundation, the Campaign for Prostate Health.

The Foundation, a strong advocate for health education, offers a free health lecture series each spring and fall that is open to all members of the general public.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation is a registered Canadian Charitable Organization. All donors receive an official tax receipt for contributions. For more information, please visit www.royalalex.org.

Dr. Louis Francescutti will be available for interviews at the close of the lecture.

SOURCE CN