2015 Awards Recipients
Outstanding Philanthropist: Peter Gilgan
Peter Gilgan, Founder and CEO of Mattamy Homes, is transforming Toronto at both the intimate scale of a single hospital patient room and the grand scale of the city’s skyline. A philanthropic leader, he has donated more than $85 million to fund ground-breaking new initiatives for SickKids, Ryerson University and St. Michael’s Hospital alone.
Peter demonstrated his deep commitment to advancing child health by pledging the lead gift of $40 million to build a new 21-storey research facility at SickKids. The Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning will accelerate discovery by enabling SickKids scientists to better collaborate, leading to breakthroughs that will save the lives of vulnerable children worldwide.
A year before this historic gift to SickKids, Peter made a visionary $15 million investment in Ryerson University’s new athletics centre in the former Maple Leaf Gardens. The three pillars of Peter’s philanthropy, health, athletics, and higher education came together and created what is now the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC). With Peter’s support and drive, a treasured landmark was transformed into a fully equipped and innovative facility, winning several awards, including a Hertiage Toronto Award of Merit
In 2014, Peter also made the transformational gift of $30 million to St. Michael’s Hospital. This lead gift will go towards building a 17-storey patient care tower where trauma patients will have better access to life-saving treatment and greater opportunity to heal in comfort.
Countless people will benefit from these life-changing spaces, made possible through Peter’s generosity.
Outstanding Volunteer: Salah J. Bachir
Salah J. Bachir is one of a kind. He is a transformative volunteer and tremendous philanthropist who dedicates himself to making our community a better place. St. Joseph’s Health Centre counts itself lucky to call Salah a friend. His impact is also felt in many other communities including the arts, cultural institutions, the LGBTQ community, higher education, and health care.
As a dialysis patient Salah knows how it feels to need care and has dedicated himself to making the experience better. Thanks to Salah, St. Joe’s will have a new dialysis centre and better equipment, dialysis and cancer patients have new television sets to use while they receive treatment. He has even brightened up the Health Centre for patients at Christmas time. As a great fundraiser Salah is a hard man to say no to. He leads by example and reaches out to his generous friends and business connections and asks them for support. In the last year, Salah raised over $2 million for St. Joseph’s.
Other organizations that have benefited from Salah’s leadership include the Canadian Film Centre, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) the Art Gallery of Ontario, and several museums across Ontario. He led a campaign that raised $6 million for the 519 community centre, and serves as Honorary Patron. Salah is also a founding Board member of The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR).
Outstanding Corporation: Hatch
For more than 60 years, Hatch has provided engineering, technology and project delivery services to the mining, metallurgical, energy and infrastructure industries. Philanthropy is a core value and imperative part of the culture at Hatch, demonstrated with gifts and initiatives that are generous, innovative and far-reaching in support of education and healthcare.
Hatch’s remarkable gift of $3 million in 2014 to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) represents a strong commitment to the Museum’s future and an investment in education and learning that will be felt for generations to come. For nearly 30 years, Hatch has been one of McMaster University’s most valued philanthropic partners, contributing to the success of the Faculty of Engineering and the experience of its students. Hatch’s support of Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer (RHCC), is helping The Princess Margaret make an impact on cancer research and care at the local, national and international level.
Hatch has supported and participated in countless other initiatives in Canada and internationally. Hatch embraces a philanthropic philosophy, which has become ingrained in its corporate culture. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, Hatch takes pride in nurturing a culture of collaboration and innovation that it applies not only to its business endeavours, but to its approach to philanthropy and community involvement.
Outstanding Group or Foundation: The Rogers Foundation
Representing the largest private donation in Canadian health-care history, the Rogers Foundation made a $130 million gift to the University Health Network, SickKids, and the University of Toronto to establish the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. Seeking to honour their late father – a Toronto-born broadcasting pioneer and philanthropist who battled heart failure – the Rogers family worked with the three institutions for three years to realize the vision for the Centre.
The first of its kind, the Centre will bring together research, education and innovation in individualized genomic medicine, stem cell research, bioengineering and customized treatment focused on heart disease. Leveraging each institution’s expertise, the new Centre will be focused on innovation – delivering new discoveries, treatments, tools and knowledge that will push beyond what is possible today and set a new global standard of care for generations to come.
The Rogers Foundation funded the Centre in a manner that encourages a shift beyond traditional approaches to health research, embracing instead an outlook that welcomes the synergy created when science is combined with an entrepreneurial spirit. And so the gift is not only innovative in how it has brought three institutions together around a common cause. It is also entirely focused on delivering innovative approaches to tackling heart failure across all age groups, from infants with congenital heart disease to grandparents recovering from a heart attack.
Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy: Madi Vanstone
Madi Vanstone is an exceptional 14 year old who embodies a great spirit of philanthropy. Madi lives with cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. There is no cure and it can be difficult to manage, but that has not slowed Madi down, nor dampened her positive attitude. Madi’s moving story has inspired many donors and supporters to start and continue to give to Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
Madi is a great ambassador and advocate for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Her volunteer efforts began when she discovered that the potentially life-changing drug KALYDECO® was not covered by OHIP. Madi worked tirelessly to bring awareness and attention to this need and her efforts were incredibly successful. The drug, which costs $300,000 a year to administer, is now covered in Ontario for Madi and others who have the same gene mutation she does.
Madi’s volunteerism has had a direct impact on Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s ability to raise funds. Madi was a spokesperson for CARSTAR’s Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, which raised $745,000 in the Toronto District and $3.5 million across Canada in 2015. Following her keynote speech at the Fusion Gala in 2014, there was an outpouring of support, and a total of $347,000 was raised. Cystic Fibrosis Canada recognized Madi by naming her an Advocacy Champion and she is the 2015 recipient of the International Teen Champion of Hope Award from Global Genes™
Mo Davies Small Organization for Excellence in Fundraising: Amici Camping Charity
For 50 years, Amici Camping Charity has built leaders by providing life-changing summer camp experiences to at-risk kids from the Toronto area. Last summer, over 250 kids attended one of 35 partner camps in Ontario and learned hard and soft skills that will help them succeed in life and become leaders.
Amici has grown from a $400,000 annual budget in 2012 to $870,000 in 2015, doubling both its donation revenue and number of donors. In a few short years, Amici has introduced a major giving program, has engaged the next generation of donors and has replaced eight fundraising special events with one signature event that aligns with the mission. In Amici’s Canoe Heads for Kids 2015, over 130 participants portaged 58 canoes over seven kilometers through Toronto’s Financial District and paddled another seven kilometers along the waterfront.
Beyond sending more kids to camp, the success of the fundraising program has given Amici the confidence to look at new partnerships and consider different programming paradigms. It has rejuvenated the organization, inspired donors and encouraged staff and volunteers to re-imagine their role in offering leadership to youth as Amici heads into its next 50 years of building leaders at camp.
Outstanding Fundraising Professional: Darrell Louise Gregersen, FAHP, ICD.D
President & Chief Executive Officer, CAMH Foundation
When Darrell Louise Gregersen, FAHP, ICD.D joined CAMH Foundation nearly 7 years ago, mental illness was an issue that still faced significant stigma and received little philanthropic support. Under Darrell’s leadership CAMH Foundation has demonstrated that significant philanthropy can transform the lives of people and families impacted by mental illness and addiction all across Canada.
Darrell started by leading CAMH’s Transforming Lives Campaign to a successful completion, raising well over $100 million in what was, at the time, the largest campaign for a mental health hospital in the world. Immediately following this success, Darrell led the Foundation into its next campaign – the $200 million Breakthrough Campaign now underway. The Breakthrough Campaign has secured $145 million in the first four years alone and sets a new bar for mental health fundraising nationally and internationally.
A professional musician by training, Darrell spent 8 years at the National Arts Centre (NAC) where she established their Canadian and US Foundations, and raised over $40 million through the creation of a full service development program. She persuaded Canadians that Canada’s National Arts Centre is one of our country’s most important performing arts organizations, securing major donors and senior volunteer leaders from every major city in Canada. Prior to the NAC, Darrell served as Senior Director, Philanthropic Programs at The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation where she helped establish a focused major gift program among other achievements. Along with being known for her excellence in fundraising, Darrell is respected as an effective, innovative and supportive leader.