The Rogers family makes a huge donation
The Rogers family makes a huge donation
—The amount of money donated by the Rogers family to support the founding of a new heart research centre in Toronto. (The family patriarch, former Rogers CEO Ted Rogers, died of heart failure in 2008.) According to the Globe, this is the largest-ever private donation to a Canadian health-care institution or university. The funds will be matched by contributions from the Hospital for Sick Children, the University Health Network and the University of Toronto.
I really respect the fact that this is a donation that benefits society as a whole, and is not just a rich family putting their name on a business school or Opera House. It would be really wonderful if it became a status “thing,” for wealthy people to compete to out do each other with philanthropic contributions to worthy causes like this. As if giving money to build an affordable housing unit became more prestigious, than say being ranked the 13th richest person in Canada. I’d love to hear that the President of the Royal Bank was overheard bragging to friends about building a new wing on to a women’s shelter or hospice, or drop in center for homeless youth. I thing capitalism is great (or at least has the potential to be great), just wish that capitalists had slightly different priorities when it came to their charitable giving.