In good health: Events raise millions for CAMH and the MUHC Foundation

UnMasked in support of CAMH, Toronto

North of $1-million was raised in Toronto recently on the eve of May 24. The generous sum was achieved during UnMasked, the annual fundraiser, now in its ninth year, that supports CAMH, Canada’s leading mental-health hospital. Some 16 contemporary galleries, which dot the city’s west end (in and around MOCA Toronto), were paired with top chefs to play host in a series of dinner parties for nearly 500 guests. Galleries including Cultural Goods, Arsenal Contemporary, Daniel Faria and Christopher Cutts were among those taking part. The sprawling space of gallerist and long-time UnMasked supporter Olga Korper was the dining spot of yours truly. My host, Brad Berg, a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon and a member of the CAMH Foundation board, was one of the galas’s co-chairs (his husband Brian Rolfes, global head of recruiting for McKinsey and Company, was there too). Remarks were made by Berg as well as Sandi Treliving, a fellow board member who served on the event committee (she attended with her husband, Boston Pizza founder Jim Treliving). At the podium too, postdinner, was Linda Mohri, the acting senior vice-president, clinical care at CAMH, the executive lead for the Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan Emergency Department at CAMH, and also the administrative co-chair of ECHO Ontario Mental Health.

She spoke of the work CAMH is undertaking, notably the treatment of more than 37,000 people annually (CAMH’s emergency department, which is the only of its kind in the province, breaks volume records every month) and the impressive work the centre continues to lead in the areas of teaching and research. Following dinner, guests made their way to the after party, which was held nearby at Soluna. There, fellow event co-chair Claudia Fieder and committee members including Maureen Dodig, Susan Baxter, Cameron Fowler and Valerie Pringle mixed with fellow mental-health advocates including Olympian Tessa Virtue; Peter Gilgan, chairman and CEO of Mattamy Asset Management; Christian Vermast and Armin Yousefi, both of Sotheby’s International Reality; philanthropists Ana Lopes and Don Tapscott; and of course Sarah Downey, president and CEO of CAMH.

Naomi Azrieli and Francois Blanc.George Pimentel/Supplied

Thyra Berg, Brad Berg and Alicia Lehoux.George Pimentel/Supplied

Jim and Sandi Treliving.TOM SANDLER/Supplied

Yvette Lam and Azza Taha.Tom Sandler/Supplied

Rui Mateus Amaral and Daniel Faria.Tom Sandler/Supplied

Ana Lopes and Don Tapscott.George Pimentel/Supplied

Valerie Pringle and Claudia Fieder.George Pimintel/Supplied

Michelle Koerner and Kevin Doyle.Tom Sandler/Supplied

Maureen and Victor Dodig.George Pimentel/Supplied

Le Bal Rouge Gala in support of the MUHC Foundation, Montreal

Two nights later in Montreal, Le Bal Rouge Gala took over the city’s historic Windsor Station, and raised an impressive $1.68-million. In just a handful of years the event has become the McGill University Health Centre Foundation’s most glamorous gathering, as well as financially rewarding, raising nearly $7-million to date. Each year, there’s a new fundraising focus, complete with a guest speaker, a specialist in that field from the McGill University Health Centre (which is among the top university hospitals in Canada), who delivers remarks postdinner. Last year, it was the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity, referred to as MI4 (founded in 2017 to address the global threat of infection), which, during the COVID pandemic became indispensable.

This year’s sold-out event focused its attention on respiratory disease, which is on the rise and posing a grave threat to our health. The evening also honoured the work of the Montreal Chest Institute (MCI) and Dr. Kevin Schwartzman, the director of the MUHC Division of Respiratory Medicine. Co-chairing this year’s event was Lucie Guillemette, Air Canada’s executive vice-president and chief commercial officer; Sacha Haque, a partner, general counsel and secretary at Sagard; Lisa Giannone, president and COO at BFL Canada; and Maria Della Posta, president, Pratt & Whitney Canada. Others out included Julie Quenneville, the outgoing president and CEO of the MUHC Foundation and her incoming interim Harris Poulis; Water Stone Human Capital’s Marc Tellier, who serves as chair of the MUHC Foundation board of directors; Jean Charest, a partner at McCarthy Tétrault and former premier of Quebec; Nova Steel CEO Scott Jones; and Dr. Lucie Opatrny, president and executive director of MUHC.