$500K donated to London’s Health and Homelessness Fund for Change

A big donation is a major boost for the Health and Homelessness Fund for Change, which aims to transform homelessness response in London, Ont., this time in honour of Canada Life’s retiring president.

On Monday, a $500,000 donation was announced by Canada Life, IG Wealth Management and Power Corporation of Canada in honour of Jeff Macoun’s more than 40 years with Canada Life. He retired from the company in February.

“That’s absolutely a tribute to him and a tribute, I’d say, to his leadership, not only his leadership in our companies, but also his leadership here in London,” Canada Life CEO Paul Mahon said.

“It’s a great opportunity to recognize him, but also recognize the importance of making contributions in the community.”

The donation is to the matching campaign, which sees an anonymous London family matching up to $5 million in donations, in addition to the $25 million the family gifted to the London Community Foundation to start the Health and Homelessness Fund for Change, for a total of up to $35 million.

“It was really the tail end of last summer that we approached him to take the lead on the community match campaign and without a doubt, without even a blink of an eye, Jeff Macoun said ‘absolutely,’ because the issue was also near and dear to his heart. Being a major employer here in the community and having employees downtown, he was fully aware of the crisis.… Through his leadership, we formed a community cabinet, and together they raised $4.1 million,” said Diane Silva, director of philanthropy at the London Community Foundation.

“That $500,000 is an incredible endorsement from Canada Life. (For) a Canadian company to step in and to make this significant investment here in our community is so big and beautiful.”