Children’s Hospital Foundation gets $2-M gift from Shopify co-owner

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This article was published 18/11/2021 (1585 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SICK children in Winnipeg received a boost of support thanks to a $2-million gift to the local Children’s Hospital Foundation from a co-founder of Shopify Inc.

The Thistledown Foundation — a private charitable foundation created by Shopify chief executive officer Tobias Lutke and his wife, Fiona McKean — is donating a total of $26 million to 13 acute-care children’s hospitals ($2 million each) across the country.

“We are grateful to this donation and the power of the community to come together to help children who need children’s hospitals,” Stefano Grande, president and CEO of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, said in a statement.

“It is more important than ever for us to be there for the children and families going through the most difficult times of their lives. This gift will help the kids we serve from Manitoba, northwestern Ontario, and Nunavut, to continue to get the best care possible.”

In a statement, McKean, chairwoman of Thistledown, said: “Through this gift, our hope is that children across Canada will have the best possible care to enable them to feel better soon and get back to the important job of being kids.”

Shopify, based in Ottawa, was founded in 2006, and is now the world’s largest e-commerce platform, assisting businesses big and small (including car maker Tesla) run online stores.

The Thistledown Foundation was created in late 2019 with a core mission to push forward technological solutions for reducing carbon.

During the pandemic, the foundation expanded its focus to also help the country’s COVID-19 response by increasing the domestic supply of personal protective equipment and to accelerate academic research.

Jennifer Gillivan, chairwoman of Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations, said: “The incredible generosity and power of this donation through the national network of children’s hospitals will create a positive impact and be felt in the smallest and largest communities throughout Canada. It is heartwarming to have these donors step up to put children’s needs first at a time when they need it the most.”

Dr. Ronald Cohn, president and CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), said the donations come at a perfect time.

“Our patients are counting on us more than ever before,” said Cohn. “We must prioritize innovations in pediatric care as we start envisioning how our post-pandemic health-care institutions and systems will evolve.”

The Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba was founded in 1971, and has raised more than $150 million to help support programs to help sick children.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca