Help us build a new Ronald McDonald House

When we’re not closing deals (watch for a new press release shortly), our team looks for opportunities to help make a positive impact on the community. Our firm donates one day of revenue to our Charitable Foundation each year, and we bump up that figure with our annual charitable golf tournament, which is being held on June 7th at Eagles Nest. The Co-Chair of the Canadian Art Foundation, Kim Bozak, serves as our independent Foundation Chair. Since 2006, we’ve raised (and donated) more than $500,000 for local and national organizations.

As we finalized our firm’s charitable plans for 2010, we had the opportunity to meet with folks from Ronald McDonald House last week. They are in the process of raising $31.7 million to build a new home in downtown Toronto. The current space, a 28 bedroom unit on Gerrard Street, is constantly full and 70% of the families looking for help are turned away as a result.

RMH serves families who come to Toronto with kids that need special medical care. And the needs can vary. Chemo at Princess Margaret Hospital, life support at the Neonatal unit at Mount Sinai, or the multitude of challenges that the Hospital for Sick Children deals with each and every day. 31% of the children who used the house in 2007/08 were being treated for Cancer. Heart disease affected another 20%. 12% were newborns dealing with complications that arose right before/after their entry into the world.

The new facility will have 96 bedrooms, serving 80 families. If you need to bring your young child to the city to get life-saving medical treatment, the last thing you want to worry about is whether or not you can afford the hotel and restaurant bills.

We think this initiative is a very worthy cause, and will make it a focus of ours for the next several years. If you’d like to help us help them, please join us at our Golf Tournament on June 7th by contacting Amy, our Marketing Manager, at 416-682-6002.

MRM