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Marchese Health Care 50th Anniversary Legacy Fund

Marita Zaffiro Marking a milestone.

Marchese Pharmacy on James Street North has been a crucial neighbourhood resource for five decades.  To mark the milestone, owner Marita Zaffiro established the Marchese Health Care 50th Anniversary Legacy Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation in 2011.

“It’s about acknowledging the people of Marchese, past and present,” Marita says about her gift. “Through all the years and all the changes, Marchese has held an important place in the north end community. I’m glad we can celebrate that legacy with this fund, today and into the future.”The fund will support projects recommended by the Foundation which give Hamiltonians opportunities to improve their employment potential and quality of life. Its first grant is already helping the YWCA build a business plan for a downtown café: the social enterprise would offer healthy food to the community, generate revenue for Y programs, and also provide meaningful employment for their clients. “

I appreciate that the Foundation is examining the impact of its work and trying to make links between grantmaking and social enterprise,” says Marita. “HCF is an acknowledged leader in the sector and it is taking an innovative approach that aligns well with my personal and business philosophy of working collaboratively, creating synergy and sharing success.”