Above pictured on the left; Francois–Louis Tremblay, Short Track Speed Skating and three time Olympic Medalist with Geoff Molson, Vice President Marketing at Molson.

Bring on summer! To celebrate International Olympic Day on Tuesday, June 23,  Molson fired up the grill and hosted Olympic barbecues for employees in Montreal, St-John’s, Moncton, Toronto and Vancouver (click to see all pictures). Not only the burgers were sizzling. It was a way to spark greater awareness of Molson’s role as the Official Beer Supplier of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games.

At the barbecues, we took the opportunity to announce the Molson Fund a Champion Campaign, in which the company has committed an initial amount of $80,000 to support 10 designated Canadian athletes. we also announced the names of the ten Molson employees who will be representing us on the Olympic Torch Relay as torch bearers, and everyone got a taste of the exciting fundraising, sponsorship and promotional activities that are upcoming.

Molson Canadian/Export Fund a Champion Athletes:

(click on link to view video with athletes)

• Mark Arendz – Paralympic Nordic Skiing – Hartsville, PEI
• Brittany Webster – Cross-Country Skiing – Caledon, Ontario
• Billy Bridges – Sledge Hockey – Mississauga, Ontario
• Jeff Batchelor – Snowboard Halfpipe – Oakville, Ontario
• François-Louis Tremblay – Short Track Speed Skating – Montreal, Quebec
• Joannie Rochette – Figure Skating – Île Dupas, Quebec
• Jean Labonté – Sledge Hockey – Gatineau, Quebec
• Denny Morrison – Speed Skating – Calgary, Alberta
• Tom Velisek – Snowboard Cross – Vernon, BC
• Melissa Hollingsworth – Skeleton – Eckville, Alberta

The events also included raffles for great prizes, ball hockey, and other games, while employees in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver had a chance to meet some of our Olympic athletes recipients of the Fund a Champion Campaign. With the Games fast approaching, our Canadian athletes have a pressing need of vital funds necessary to complete their final months of intensive training leading up to the Games in Vancouver. At the BBQ in Toronto Scott Ewart, Molson Chief Officer Legal and Public Affairs said, “Our donations will make a difference to these extremely talented athletes, and help them realize their dreams.”

In Montreal, Geoff Molson, Vice President Marketing Molson spoke to employees and said, ” Molson is proud to be an official supplier of the Vancouver 2010 Games but more importantly we are great fans of our Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Athletes and we are excited to be able to meet and support them in their quest for an Olympic medal.”

Watch a video of the event and Geoff Molson’s speech in Montreal (in French).

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Proud to play our part

The 2010 Olympic Games belong to Canada, and they belong to us.  At Molson, we are proud to play our part in uniting Canada’s Olympic spirit from coast to coast. We are looking forward to sharing a true taste of Canada with the world in 2010. Not only is Molson an official supporter of Canada’s Games but we’re also fans – let’s go, Team Canada!

Cheers! @MolsonSeb

Molson Hockey Cup players and CWHL players – Sami Jo Small and Sarah Love

Happy to report that in ongoing support of our commitment to athletes, teams and sports associations over the years, Molson’s Fund a Champion Campaign has also been extended to include the Canadian Women’s Hockey League! (CWHL) Molson is supporting the association with a $20,000 donation.

At our Olympic Day BBQ in Toronto on Tuesday, Team Canada Olympians Jennifer Botterill and Sami Jo Small dropped in to chat with employees and take some pics.  And in true hockey spirit, we had a road hockey tournament in our parking lot!

Earlier this year, Sami Jo and Sarah Love (Sami’s teammate from the Mississauga Chiefs) stopped by Molson’s Annual Hockey Cup to take some pics with the players and officially accept our donation.

L-R: Beata Tomczyk (Molson) Sami Jo Small, Tim Young (Molson), Sarah Love, Brent Walkter (Molson), and Me! (yes….I’m wearing flip flops on the rink….)

It was so great to meet the ladies in person, and we’re thrilled to support the league as Team Canada goes for the Gold in Vancouver! GO TEAM CANADA!  Cheers, @MolsonTonia

Molson Cup 2009

Only 2010 pins available!! To get yours and support our athletes visit:

Molson 2010 Pins

In addition to internal fundraising efforts, Molson is providing an opportunity for consumers to help fund champions with a commemorative Olympic pin where with a donation of $20.10 to the athletes, Molson will send you TWO pins – one to keep and one to share/trade.  We’re very proud to partner with The Canadian Olympic Foundation and VANOC to provide Canadians with this opportunity to support our team’s success.

Cheers, @MolsonTonia

Jennifer Botterill’s (Team Canada – Women’s Hockey) Olympic medals

Wooooow! Yesterday was awesome.  In celebration of International Olympic Day, Molson held BBQ’s across the country and invited Olympic and Paralympic athletes from our Fund a Champion Program to join us.

In Toronto, Jeff Batchelor (Snowboard), Billy Bridges (Sledge Hockey) and Jennifer Botterill (Team Canada – Women’s Hockey) dropped in to chat, take photos, sign autographs and play some ‘Olympic’ games with our employees.  We even had a road hockey tournament in our parking lot!

Molson is a proud supporter and the Official Beer Supplier of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, and, after getting to meet the athletes in person, chat with them, and even hold their GOLD medals, the feeling of pride is even greater.  Thank you to ALL employees who joined in the games and donated to our athletes; to the organizers of the BBQs – your hard work was truly appreciated; and to our Fund a Champion Athletes across the country who took the time to visit our offices and breweries and hang out with the Molson crew – an unforgettable day.

Here are a few of many photos of the day.  Check out our Flickr page to see more. Cheers, @molsontonia

Billy Bridges speaking to Molson Employees in Toronto – Sledge hockey Gold Medalist

Jennifer Botterill speaking to Molson Employees

Molson Extreme Team

Molson Employee Road Hockey Tournament!

Billy Bridges – Sledge Hockey

A couple months ago, Ferg wrote about one of our upcoming Olympic activities called the Fund a Champion Campaign.  Today, in honour of International Olympic Day, Molson is thrilled to announce that the select group of Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Winter athlete hopefuls have been identified!  Today is the official introduction of the Molson Canadian/Molson Export (Quebec) Fund a Champion Campaign.  Molson is committing up to $20,000 each to a group of 10 emerging athletes from across Canada to help them in their pursuit for excellence at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

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Jeff Batchelor – Snowboard

The designated 10 athletes (7 Olympian and 3 Paralympian) represent Canada’s four regions (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario and Western provinces).  Each athlete will receive an initial $8,000 from the Molson Donations Fund in support of Molson’s Active Lifestyles community pillar.  Molson will now call upon our employees to ‘adopt’ the athletes and encourage staff to raise additional funds in support of the athletes.  Our athletes:

• Mark Arendz – Paralympic Nordic Skiing – Hartsville, PEI
• Brittany Webster – Cross Country Skiing – Caledon, ON
• Billy Bridges – Sledge Paralympian – Mississauga, ON
• Jeff Batchelor – Snowboard Halfpipe – Oakville, ON
• Francois Louis Tremblay – Speed Skating – Montreal, QC
• Joannie Rochette – Skate Canada – Ile Dupas, QC
• Jean Labonte – Sledge Paralympian – Hull QC
• Denny Morrison – Speed Skating – Calgary, AB
• Tom Velisek – Snowboard Cross – Vernon, BC
• Melissa Hollingsworth – Bobsleigh Skeleton, Eckville, AB

Joannie Rochette – Skate Canada

To see videos of all our athletes, visit Molson’s youtube channel and photos on our flickr channel.

Today, Molson employees are celebrating the news and commemorating International Olympic Day with a series of Olympic BBQs at each of our breweries and sales offices across Canada – complete with Fund a Champion athlete appearances!

More pics and deets to come. Cheers and Happy Olympic Day!