SENS GIVE $1M CHEQUE TO HELP TROUBLED YOUTH

Variety Ottawa Pledges $300,000

The Ottawa Senators Foundation pledged $1 million to a drug-treatment
program for young people yesterday.

Danielle Robinson, president of the foundation, announced the
commitment to Project Step amid raucous applause from those gathered
in a conference room at Scotiabank Place.

It's the second-largest donation in the foundation's 10-year history.

Variety Ottawa also committed to raise $300,000 for Project Step.

"It's just about 20 years to the day that I've been fighting for a
residential treatment centre," said Dave Smith, honorary president of
the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre, an outpatient facility for
youth in Ottawa. "Our dream will come true," he said.

Mr. Smith and Jean-Francois Milotte, president of the Maison
Fraternite, accepted the cheque from Ms. Robinson.

In June, Ontario announced it would provide $2.4 million in annual
operating costs for two residential youth addiction treatment centres
in Ottawa -- a 15-bed centre on the west side for anglophone youth,
to be operated by the Dave Smith centre, and a five-bed centre on the
east side for francophone youth, to be operated by Maison Fraternite.
The locations have not been finalized.

There are no existing residential addiction treatment programs for
people aged 13 to 17 in Ottawa.

Senators CEO Roy Mlakar said the idea to contribute came from police
Chief Vern White, who took Mr. Mlakar on a ride-along to show him the
problems young people face with addiction on Ottawa's streets.

Jim Watson, municipal affairs and housing minister and MPP for Ottawa
West-Nepean, credited Chief White as being "the driving force" behind
the project.

"His passion, his persistence, his hounding us, has paid off," Mr.
Watson said yesterday.

The amount of the Senators Foundation donation surprised Chief White
when he found out about it a few weeks ago.

"I didn't ask for one dollar," he said. "I was shocked, overwhelmed.
This puts us up into $2.5 million so far, and we've really been at
this a little over a month."

Project Step aims to raise $6 million.

Half will pay the capital costs of the two centres, and the other
half will pay for substance-abuse programs for youth and their families.

Chief White hopes to reach the $6-million goal by the end of the year.

"I'm a bit of a pie-in-the-sky guy," he said. "We'll get there."