Barry Cohen wasn’t asked to do much more than he already was for the SickKids Foundation.
For 20 years, the RE/MAX Realtron REALTOR in Toronto has donated tens of thousands of dollars each year to the Hospital for Sick Children — a place special to him following the birth of his first son.
“My youngest child was a guest of the hospital for the first month of this life and we almost lost him, but thanks to the good work and experience of the people there, all was figured out,” he says. “I don’t know what the reason was last year, but I picked up the phone and I said to them, ‘What do you need?’”
A donation target was set and with that, Cohen became the top lifetime RE/MAX donor to SickKids.
He is currently recognized as a Patron to SickKids (having donated between $100,000 to $249,000 over his lifetime) and is part of a brokerage that donated $130,000 to SickKids in 2015 alone – making Realtron the top-donating brokerage to SickKids in the country.
“SickKids relies on the generous support of our community and we are grateful for the incredible support that Barry Cohen has shown to our hospital,” said Heather Mills, Associate Director of National Partnerships & Children’s Miracle Network with the SickKids Foundation. “Thanks to his passion and dedication to our cause, we can continue to provide world-class research, learning and care to our patients and their families, from Ontario and around the world.”
Cohen said donating money to any special cause is a “very easy thing to do” thanks to a payroll-based donation system.
“You don’t miss the money and it gives you a very warm feeling to know the kids are benefitting,” Cohen says. “I would like to challenge my peers to double up in their donations like I did last year and to tell people who aren’t giving to get on board.”
About the SickKids Foundation
Established in 1972, SickKids Foundation raises funds on behalf of The Hospital for Sick Children. The Foundation’s fundraising is driven by the belief that improving the health and well-being of children is one of the most powerful ways to improve society. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015, SickKids Foundation invested $108.4 million in child health research, learning and care.
