Alice Mary Glassco

Alice Glassco

Dubbed ‘Freddie’ by a childhood friend, Alice Mary Glassco continued to be known affectionately by the nickname by generations of grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. The third of six children, Alice Mary Balfour was born October 28, 1917 into a family well-established in the wholesale grocery distribution business.

Alice was educated at Strathallan on Robinson Street (before the present day Hillfield-Strathallan College) and Compton in Montreal, followed by a year in Switzerland. She was a spirited young woman with a good sense of humour. Family lore has it that, as young girls, she and two sisters drove a cow downtown from their home on the Mountain.

Freddie had a great talent for oil painting and her teacher, well-known Canadian artist Frank Panabaker, once remarked that she was his best student and showed great promise. During the Second World War, Alice performed various duties for the Red Cross including driving one of their trucks (unusual for the time) and took pride in the fact that the Duke of Kent visited the Hamilton Branch to congratulate them on their contribution to the war effort. On January 31, 1942, she married Colin Stinson Glassco, a Lieutenant Commander in the Canadian Navy. After brief stints in Vancouver and Edmonton, the couple returned to Hamilton to raise their family on Markland Street – where she lived for 54 years until her death on September 22, 2000.

Her sons Roger and Colin remember a woman completely devoted to her family: “Not only did she support everything we did, our mother had a close association with 27 nieces and nephews and was popular with all of them. She was down to earth, an excellent judge of character, and a loyal friend. She had a warm, generous nature. Nothing gave her more pleasure than to think of some way to offer help to people, whether in the form of a warm welcome to new neighbours, or a gift – often a valuable, personal memento. She especially loved children: her own grandchildren and also the many other children she encountered throughout her life. Her house was always a favourite on Halloween.”

Alice Mary Glassco left a gift to the Foundation in memory of her husband, Colin, who served on the Hamilton Community Foundation Board in the 1970s. Her bequest will be added to the Ontario Endowment Fund for Children and Youth in Recreation. In addition to the Foundation, she also remembered the Red Cross, the Victorian Order of Nurses, Christ’s Church Cathedral, Hillfield-Strathallan College, and the Salvation Army.

Excerpt from 2000-2001 Annual Report

Tara Lynn Giuliani Memorial Fund

Tara Lynn Giuliani

 Tara Giuliani was admired by all for her courage and determination to finish her education despite the onset of blindness resulting from diabetes. Tara had developed diabetes at the age of three and had always known that blindness was a danger, but thought it would occur gradually. However, during her first year at the University of Guelph, her sight began to deteriorate rapidly and after a sixth operation, just after her 21st birthday, she woke up blind. She was determined to go back to school and learned to write essays on tape, use a talking computer and read Braille. She also found the perfect guide dog to help her navigate the campus and community.

The daughter of Justine and Rick Giuliani, Tara was a graduate of Nelson High School in Burlington. When she died at 25 from diabetic complications, a tremendous outpouring of admiration and sympathy resulted in more than 150 donations to a fund established in her memory.

The fund provides annual support to several organizations which were important to Tara as she coped with her illness – Ave Maria Place, Canine Vision Canada, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital and the University of Guelph where a bursary will be given to a student with disabilities.

Excerpt from 1994-1995 annual Report

Richard & Justine Giuliani Fund

Rick and Justine Giuliani

Rick and Justine Giuliani

Justine and Rick Giuliani began their association with Hamilton Community Foundation a decade ago, when their eldest daughter was living with the severe complications of juvenile diabetes and they began to explore establishing a fund in her honour.

“We had about two years to prepare for Tara’s death,” says Justine, “and we talked to her about everything – what her funeral would be like, what the memorial fund would support, and what difference it would make to others. Now, every year on her birthday we award the grants from her fund. We reduce the sadness on that day by celebrating her life and supporting the organizations that were important to her.”

The Tara Lynn Giuliani Memorial Fund was created with hundreds of memorial donations in 1994. Every year since then, it has funded scholarships for deserving visually-impaired University of Guelph students and grants to other groups that Tara cared about, such as the Diabetes Association and Guide Dog Training through Canine Vision.

“We had some specific ideas about how we wanted to honour Tara’s life and we were really pleased with the way the Foundation accommodated our needs,” says Rick. “Our experience ever since has been extremely positive.”

Both Rick and Justine have recently started new funds at HCF. The new R.K. (Rick) Giuliani Fund will be built up over time through a combination of donations and capitalization of a portion of the fund’s income. His wide-ranging charitable interests include church, university, hospice care, and many other causes. Administration of the fund is “a cruise control kind of thing,” he says. “We turn all the details over to the professionals at the Foundation but still have input into what groups we support.”

Rick Giuliani is well known in Hamilton/Burlington as a leader in the financial services industry and in many community organizations. He has spent 40 years with Great-West Life. As a financial advisor, Rick raises the topic of philanthropy with many of his associates and clients, bringing Hamilton Community Foundation and other charities to their attention. He encourages other advisors to do the same.

“I’m a believer that whatever we have is a gift. We’ve been blessed and we should be doing something good with some of our assets and income. One of the most gratifying things one can do is embark on the path of philanthropy. When you see your fund make its gifts to worthy charities every year, the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is difficult to match. A perpetual fund certainly completes my life and allows me to catch up on my tithing.”

In addition to many causes Rick and Justine share, Justine’s fund will also support the arts – reflecting her career as a painter and her commitment to the healing power of artistic expression in all its forms, including dance, poetry and theatre. Justine is an accredited and highly respected professional artist who has worked in Burlington for the last 30 years. For the past five years she has been working to spread the concept of the labyrinth as a relaxation, spiritual, and healing tool. She has become a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator and is in the process of creating a permanent labyrinth in Burlington’s Central Park, which she intends to support through her fund.

Justine believes that we must experience life to the fullest and learn the lessons of life’s journey, finding the personal higher purpose that helps us understand and appreciate life more completely. “Life is about sharing your gifts and talents,” she says, “and encouraging others to share their gifts and to develop their potential.”

Excerpt from Fall 2003 Newsletter

Daniel Giannini Fund

Daniel Giannini

“I believe in helping a worthy person who doesn’t have the means,” Daniel Giannini said, reflecting on the main reason he has established a fund for bursaries to assist medical students. “My wife, Cecely, and I appreciate the value of education, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to help a deserving student.” He decided to start a fund during his lifetime to help students who need financial assistance. He credits the Foundation’s annual report, with its donor profiles, for the fund’s inspiration.

“I knew some of the people who had made donations and I was impressed overall with the organization.” A former miner in Kirkland Lake, Mr. Giannini met his wife in Australia while on a two-year mining contract. When the Second World War broke out, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Engineers, and served five years in Italy, England and Gibraltar. Later, he joined the life insurance business and 44 years ago came to Burlington with Empire Life.

While cruising to far off places and golf have been favourite activities, Mr. Giannini’s passion is the stock market. The Hamilton community has been very good to him, he explains, and the Fund is his way of recycling the fruits of his success so that others have an opportunity to pursue their dreams. “Of all the things I’ve accomplished in my life, the initiation of this fund at the Foundation is the one I’m most proud of” he said as the arrangements were made.

Excerpt from 1997-1998 Annual Report

The Ron and Gina Fraser Fund

Ron-Gina-Fraser Gina Fraser wants to invest in the future by helping young people, who would not otherwise have the opportunity, to pursue a career in the trades. She turned to Hamilton Community Foundation to help her carry out that vision.

Though they had no children of their own, Gina and her late husband Ron had what she calls a “soft spot” for kids, and shared a passion for helping disadvantaged youth to pursue education. They established bursaries to support local students, and fellowships in health sciences. Gina has maintained an interest in many of the young people and their careers over the years. But her interest in skilled trades has a special significance, because of Ron’s long career as a president and CEO in the home construction industry.

“University isn’t for everyone,” says Gina. “Tradespeople built our country and it can be a really interesting and rewarding career. Many young people have a natural instinct for the trades, but they may not be aware of those instincts or know that there is a good living to be made until they experience expert guidance and training.” Gina has known about the Foundation for many years, but her interest was piqued by a story in an HCF publication about a grant to the Threshold School of Building, providing youth with training in home construction and renovation.

“I knew what I wanted to do,” says Gina, “but until I saw that story I just didn’t know how to make it happen.”

Gina established The Ron and Gina Fraser Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation as a tribute to Ron and to carry out her philanthropic goals. Her intent is to establish a bursary for young people wanting to study the trades. Meeting with HCF’s grants team provided her with knowledge of the importance of engaging kids early so they are exposed to the options before finishing high school.

As a result, last summer, the first grant from the fund supported an innovative pilot project at Mohawk College’s Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Research, Resources and Training Institute. It combined education summer jobs, mentoring and fun. Bringing together partners from the college and the YMCA, it gave 12 youth from a low-income neighbourhood the opportunity to learn about and experience a number of trades.

Gina Fraser couldn’t be happier. “You might think that it would be simple for kids to enter the trades as a career, but they often don’t even know it’s an option. This fund will help to open that door.”

Excerpt from 2009-2010 Annual Report

The Foxcroft Family Youth Fund

Foxcroft

Ron Foxcroft knows the value of sport. It has opened doors for him in business and in life. He wants that chance for all kids.

Owner of Hamilton-based Fluke Transportation Ltd. and Fox40 International Inc., Ron’s legendary community support has been recognized with many awards, among them 1997 Hamilton Citizen of the Year, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from McMaster University.

Ron is also renowned as a professional basketball referee. That career spanned 35 years and 1600 games in 30 countries – including the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal game – and earned him a place in both the Canadian and the Ontario Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2007, REFEREE magazine named Ron one of the “52 Most Influential Officials in North America.” He also invented the revolutionary Fox 40 Pealess Whistle.

“There wouldn’t be a Fox 40 whistle without the mentors and coaches I had growing up,” Ron says. “It was from them that I learned teamwork and leadership.”

Research supports Ron’s personal experience. Quality recreational activities lead to “a lifetime of better health, increased self esteem, social and leadership skills,” in the words of McMaster University’s Dr. Gina Browne. Opportunities like camp, playgroups, swimming lessons, and team sports help children improve their academic performance, increase their social skills, and develop a sense of belonging. Especially important, high-risk behaviour goes down.

But for some children, access to recreation is limited. Cost can be prohibitive. Transportation is often a barrier. Children of new Canadians can face cultural or social hurdles.

Ron, his wife Marie, and their sons Steve, Dave and Ronnie aim to break down those barriers through The Foxcroft Family Youth Fund. It will also help with the huge number of donation requests Ron’s companies receive.

The Fund is working closely with HCF’s Ontario Endowment for Children & Youth in Recreation Fund, which Ron chaired when it was established with challenge funding from the province and matching funds from local donors. “I realized then that the community foundation is the jewel of Hamilton,” Ron says. “Working with the Foundation, I know our family can maximize our impact for youth.”

Excerpt from 2007-2008 Annual Report

Fengate Community Foundation Fund

Fengate Corporation

Fengate Corporation has called on HCF to enhance the effectiveness of its charitable giving tradition. From left: Marco Di Carlantonio, Senior Vice President; Lou Serafini Jr., President and Louis Serafini Sr., Founder & Director.

Charitable giving and volunteering have always been important to Fengate Corporation’s corporate culture. Now, the company has enlisted the help of Hamilton Community Foundation to structure and inform its community support.

“We started a fund at HCF for a number of reasons,” says Lou Serafini Jr., Fengate’s president. “First, we want to recognize our Hamilton roots. The company started here and while we’re now national, we remain committed to Hamilton’s well-being. Second, HCF has the specialized knowledge of charities to help us effectively direct our support and third, this will enhance our culture of giving and volunteering. Our team is very engaged in the community and we value the idea of supporting their charitable efforts outside the workplace.”

The company puts its policies behind those words. Staff are given days off to volunteer and participate actively in corporate giving decisions. In addition, an award is presented annually to a staff member whose community involvement is outstanding.

Founded in Hamilton in 1974 by Louis Serafini Sr., Fengate has grown to a national enterprise with over 400 employees. The company is a Canadian market leader in asset management, developing infrastructure, commercial real estate and seniors housing. Since 2007, Fengate has been recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.

“I’m very proud of these achievements. However, success is about more than the bottom line, it’s about giving back in ways that make our community a better place to live,” says Lou Jr. “We have a social responsibility as a corporation and it is important to share our success with those who need help.”

The donor-advised Fengate Community Foundation Fund will support projects focused on children, youth and seniors within the fields of health, education and the environment. The fund will also direct 20 percent of its annual granting to HCF’s Community Fund.

Through the process of establishing the fund, Lou Jr. was impressed with HCF’s expertise and low management cost. “It gives us great confidence that this relationship will multiply Fengate’s charitable impact,” he says. “There is tremendous value in HCF’s knowledge of the community’s needs and its understanding of the best opportunities to help. We’re very excited about this partnership.”

Excerpt from 2009-2010 Annual Report

The Farah Family

Elham and Joseph Farah

Elham and Joseph Farah

Elham and Joseph Farah weren’t familiar with the community foundation concept until recently but they discovered a true meeting of minds when a friend referred them to Hamilton Community Foundation.

For this globally-conscious couple, it became an easy decision to develop their family foundation – a long-time goal of theirs – within HCF. “I like the way the Foundation operates and the work that they have been doing in the community,” says Elham, a learning resource teacher for children with special needs. “At the Foundation we are with a group of people that share the same vision, who want to bring people together and improve life in Hamilton.”

Joseph, a busy entrepreneur who owns the Farahs Food Mart, Hasty Market and Mini-Mart convenience store chains, adds that HCF’s experience in managing endowment funds was a strong selling point. “We’d be in a learning process, and I don’t have the time to do it. This way, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel and we have the comfort of being part of a successful foundation.”

Parents to three children, all young adults, the Farahs make time for volunteer work, with Joseph sitting on the Hamilton Health Sciences board of directors, and Elham active in the Canadian Club and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs.

The Farahs are both from Nazareth, the largest Arab-populated city in Israel, and have made Hamilton their home since the late 1970s. It’s no coincidence that their interest leans toward creating forums for education and understanding. “We were born and raised in a different culture,” Elham explains. “I believe it’s important to share the human experience, to exchange ideas and knowledge. As a society we need to pay more attention to human development.”

The Farah’s fund will support educational and cultural projects that promote tolerance and understanding.

Excerpt from 2005-2006 Annual Report 

Howard Fairclough Organ Scholarship Fund

Fairclough

The late Ellen Fairclough’s contributions to public life are widely known: her groundbreaking leadership as Canada’s only female Member of Parliament in 1950 and her status as the country’s first female federal cabinet minister in 1957.
But Dr. Joan Heels, a vocal and piano teacher, remembers her as “Aunt Ellen”, a caring and thoughtful woman who both contributed to and carried on her family’s strong tradition of musicianship.

Ellen Fairclough, nee Cook, grew up playing piano, and shared her talent by playing the organ at local churches. She even had a live show on CHML Radio with her younger sister, Mary, Joan’s mother, who sang to Ellen’s accompaniment on piano. Joan says her mother told her that they earned about $5 per show and promptly spent some of it on sheet music for their next performance.

Ellen and Gordon Fairclough’s son, Howard, started piano lessons at age five and his cousin Joan, just a year younger, tagged along. “Howard played in dance bands in Toronto and he was fabulous,” Joan recalls. “He could play anything off the top of his head; you should have heard him at parties.”

Howard, whose health had been weakened by a bout with polio in his teens, died in 1986. Afterwards, Ellen and Gordon met with Hamilton Community Foundation to talk about how they could both honour Howard’s memory and assist budding musicians in Hamilton.

Ellen was no stranger to Hamilton Community Foundation, having served as a board member and chair of the board in the 1970s. She appreciated the opportunity the Foundation provided for Hamiltonians to leave a legacy and contribute to a permanent endowment fund for the city’s benefit.

The Howard Fairclough Organ Scholarship Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation was created by Ellen and Gordon Fairclough to benefit young people with talent and the potential to become professional-level organists. When Ellen passed away in late 2004 at the age of 99, a share of the residue of her estate was added to the fund.
“A lot of people don’t know that Ellen was a musician in her own right, and also an artist,” Joan says. “And certainly she was a caring mother and a very devoted aunt. I always looked forward to our time together.”

Excerpt from 2005-2006 Annual Report

Jeff Dickins Memorial Fund

Jeff Dickins

In the whirl of deadlines that constitutes the newspaper business, it’s easy to forget about people, whether it’s those who once made news or those who once reported it.

But Jeff Dickins’ colleagues at The Hamilton Spectator haven’t forgotten the slight, rumpled sportswriter who captivated readers for 26 years before his unexpected death two years ago at the age of 48. They started the Jeff Dickins Memorial Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation to honour Jeff’s love of high-school athletics.
Spectator Sports editor Denis LeBlanc says Jeff’s own beliefs and values guided the criteria of the bursary, which recognizes a high- school student who demonstrates skill in athleticism, academics, and community involvement. “Jeff sometimes found the world of professional athletes a bit discouraging,” Denis says. “He liked the high-school and university players who just play for love of the game. And he recognized there are many kids involved in sports without being top athletes, so our bursary recognizes broad involvement in athletics.”

Saltfleet District High School student Mawusi Sosoo was the first recipient of the $500 Spectator bursary, which was matched by the local B’nai Brith organization. She received the award at the annual B’nai Brith dinner in February 2005. The energetic young woman plays rugby, works the score table at school basketball games, volunteers in a basketball league and has a handful of academic awards to her credit. Mawusi also works part-time, helps out at blood donor clinics and volunteers at her church.
“I think Jeff would have said that Mawusi could teach professional athletes a thing or two about dedication and commitment,” Denis comments.

Excerpt from 2004-2005 Annual Report