Answering the Call campaign co-chairs John Jarvis, left, and Micheal Burch with Perley Health Foundation executive director Delphine Haslé at a reception held Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 to celebrate the successful completion of the $10-million campaign. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Last night, Perley Health Foundation, with its community leaders at its side, proudly uttered the two words it had been waiting years to say, that summed up their collective efforts and shared goals: Mission accomplished.
They had reached the $10-million goal of their Answering the Call campaign, a campaign created to revolutionize the care of Canada’s aging population, both at Perley Health and at long-term care facilities across Canada, through applied research and innovation, education, knowledge sharing and exceptional care.
The foundation had set an ambitious fundraising target when one considers it had to campaign during the pandemic and against other major fundraising drives.
It got a helping hand in 2021 with the historic donation of $2 million from Commissionaires Ottawa, represented last night by CEO Michel Charron and CFO Glenn La Rusic, the latter of whom is also on the board of Perley Health Foundation. The audience expressed its gratitude for their gift with a standing ovation during the celebration, held at Beechwood National Memorial Centre and sponsored by Mark Motors Group.From left, Commissionaires Ottawa CEO Michel Charron, Perley Health Foundation executive director Delphine Haslé, Commissionaires Ottawa director of marketing and communications, Andrée Paige, and Commissionaires Ottawa chief financial officer Glenn La Rusic, who’s also on the board of Perley Health Foundation, at a reception held Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, to celebrate the completion of the $10-million fundraising campaign, Answering the Call. Photo by Caroline Phillips
The campaign leadership decided months ago that Answering the Call should wrap up before the start of the holiday rush. They nailed down a late-November date to bring everyone together to mark the occasion.
“To tell you the truth, when we sent the invitation we were not quite there, yet,” Perley Health Foundation executive director Delphine Haslé told the audience last night.
But they were close. As of last Wednesday, the $10-million campaign had just under $60,000 to go. It was the final gift made by Lockheed Martin Canada that brought it over the finish line. Lorraine Ben, CEO of the global security and aerospace company, was in attendance.
The Answering the Call campaign was led by John Jarvis, retired COO of ADGA Group, and Micheal Burch, former long-time managing partner of Welch LLP, with the support of a campaign cabinet of community leaders, including Lt-Gen. (retired) Guy Thibault, a former vice-chief of defence staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, Kammal Tannis from Tannis 21 Foundation, Mariette MacIsaac from Trinity Development Foundation, and BMO regional president Rick Campagna, who’s also on the foundation board. From left, Micheal Burch and John Jarvis, co-chairs of the Perley Health Foundation’s Answering the Call campaign, at the campaign completion celebration held at Beechwood National Memorial Centre with fellow campaign volunteers, professional fundraisers and donors on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Lt-Gen. (retired) Guy Thibault with fellow campaign cabinet members Mariette MacIsaac (Trinity Development Foundation), campaign co-chair Micheal Burch and Erin Binks (Humanscale) at the Answering the Call celebration held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Lockheed Martin Canada CEO Lorraine Ben with fellow campaign donor Françoise Gagnon, retired CEO of ADGA Group, at Perley Health Foundation’s Answering the Call celebration held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Perley Health Foundation executive director Delphine Haslé with campaign donors Arnie Kimmel and Roslyn Kimmel, and campaign donors Sam Tannis and Kammal Tannis, the latter of whom also volunteered on the $10-million Answering the Call campaign, at a “mission-accomplished” celebration held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Akos Hoffer, CEO of Perley Health, with Answering the Call campaign cabinet member Rick Campagna, who’s also regional vice president of campaign donor BMO Bank of Montreal, at a celebration held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Perley Health, located on Russell Road, is home to more than 600 seniors. It operates a long-term care facility and independent living apartments. Funds raised from the campaign are helping Perley’s Health Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care to expand its research and to develop evidence-based best practices that will improve the quality of life for seniors and veterans.
Attendees included Perley Health CEO Akos Hoffer and board chair Margaret Tansey; Perley Health Foundation board members, including chair Louise Mercier; Perley’s chief medical officer, Dr. Benoît Robert; and community champion Sam Laprade, host of An Hour to Give on Rogers TV.
While Jarvis placed crucial calls during the campaign to Commissionaires Ottawa, Lockheed Martin Canada and others, he told this listeners of the most important call that he answered, that led to him accepting his leadership role on the campaign, back when it was still set at $6 million.
“It’s a touching call because the person who made it is no longer with us, and he was the one who was responsible for getting me here,” said Jarvis, whose voice wavered with emotion as he spoke about his good friend, the late Marc Jolicoeur, a well-known lawyer and community leader.
Jolicoeur, as part of his persuasive pitch, got Jarvis to join him on a tour of Perley in January 2019. At some point, Jolicoeur raised the subject of the fundraising campaign and said to Jarvis: “This would be perfect for you. It’s a $6-million goal; you can do this.”
Jarvis was so impressed with the facility, describing it as Ottawa’s “best-kept secret”, that he told his friend: “Of course I’m going to do it”.
Sadly, Jolicoeur was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer about two years into the campaign and passed away in early 2022. “Marc was a special guy in our community. He was so involved in so many different charitable organizations,” said Jarvis. “I sat on a couple of boards with him. Even in his latter days when, you know, he was struggling, he was bedridden, he would always say, ‘John, how’s that campaign going?’
“I always said to him, with a big smile: ‘Marc, mark my words, this campaign doesn’t end until we get to the ten-million dollars; you can guarantee. You put me up to this and I will finish it on behalf of you’.”
That night, with Jolicoeur’s wife, Kathleen Faulkner in the audience, Jarvis could feel proud knowing that he had answered Jolicoeur’s call.From left, Kathleen Faulkner and John Jarvis, co-chair of the Answering the Call campaign in support of Perley Health Foundation, at a celebration held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 to mark the successful completion of the campaign. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Jarvis credited the “phenomenal” team members that helped the campaign reach the finish line, praising Haslé and her director of development, Courtney Rock. “She literally rocks,” joked Jarvis.
He also gave a special shout-out to experienced fundraiser Melanie Adams, founder of Epiphany Consulting.
“This campaign was very successful because so many people, so many great leaders in the community, so many businesses answered the call,” said Jarvis. “We couldn’t be more proud to have served, Micheal and I, and our cabinet, in achieving that goal.
“On behalf of cabinet, thank you very much, and we look forward to the incredible work that’s now going to be done by the Centre of Excellence.”From left, fundraising consultant Melanie Adams, who worked on the Answering the Call campaign, with Perley Health Foundation board chair Louise Mercier at the “mission-accomplished” celebration, held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Photo by Caroline PhillipsCatherine McLaughlin from Terlin Construction at a celebration hosted by Perley Health Foundation with her mom, Joan Olinik, who’s been volunteering for Perley Health (formerly known as the Perley Rideau Veterans Health Centre) for the past 10 years. Photo by Caroline PhillipsShaun McEwan, president of ADGA Group, and his wife, Lorraine Mastersmith, firm managing partner of Gowling WLG, helped to celebrate the successful conclusion of the $10-million Answering the Call Campaign for Perley Health Foundation. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Beechwood National Cemetery chair Clare Beckton, founder of Own Your Own Success, with fellow board member Rebecca Murray, senior development officer at Carleton University, at a reception held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 to celebrate the completion of Perley Health Foundation’s $10-million Answering the Call campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Garry Venman and his wife, Perley Health Foundation board vice-chair Sheila Venman, with Kelly Sample, managing partner of campaign donor Kelly Santini LLP, and the law firm’s senior partner, Pat Santini, at the “mission-accomplished” celebration for the $10-million Answering the Call campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsDr. Benoît Robert, chief medical officer at Perley Health, with Peggy Austen, director of corporate partnerships at Pallium Canada, at a special event held Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 to celebrate the completion of Perley Health Foundation’s $10-million Answering the Call campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Gary Zed, CEO of Canada’s Forest Trust, his wife, Liza Mrak, co-owner of Mark Motors, Perley Health Foundation board member Jeff Hill, vice president, branch manager and investment advisor with BMO Nesbitt Burns, and his wife, Leigh Harris, a partner at KPMG, at the “mission-accomplished” celebration for Perley Health Foundation’s Answering the Call campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsLt-Col (retired) Frances Chilton-Mackay and her husband, Dan Mackay, honorary colonel of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa and an original member of the Perley Health Foundation’s Answering the Call campaign cabinet, which held a reception on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, to celebrate the completion of its $10-million campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsDelphine Haslé, executive director of Perley Health Foundation, with community champion Sam Laprade, host of An Hour to Give on Rogers TV, at a reception held Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, to celebrate the completion of the foundation’s $10-million Answering the Call campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsMicheal Burch, left, and John Jarvis, co-chairs of the Perley Health Foundation’s $10-million Answering the Call campaign, at the “mission-accomplished” celebration held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre with staff, volunteers and donors on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Photo by Caroline PhillipsFrom left, Françoise Gagnon with Kathleen Faulkner and Dorothy Jackson at a reception held Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 to celebrate the completion of Perley Health Foundation’s $10-million Answering the Call campaign, co-chaired by Gagnon’s husband, John Jarvis. Photo by Caroline PhillipsNick McCarthy, director of marketing, communications and community outreach for Beechwood Cemetery, with Ottawa fundraising consultant Sandra Pedersen at a reception hosted by Perley Health Foundation at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre to celebrate the completion of its $10-million Answering the Call campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsMembers of the Answering the Call campaign cabinet gathered with Perley Health Foundation executive director Delphine Haslé and her board chair, Louise Mercier, during a special reception held at Beechwood National Memorial Centre to celebrate the successful completion of the $10-million fundraising campaign. Photo by Caroline PhillipsBoard members with the Perley Health Foundation gather with executive director Delphine Haslé during a special reception held at Beechwood National Memorial Centre to celebrate the successful completion of the $10-million fundraising campaign. Photo by Caroline Phillips
