Ralph Hutchison hopes to remain active in Shriners for many more years, as a volunteer and donor.Christinne Muschi/The Globe and Mail
The Gift: $100,000
The Cause: McGill University Health Centre
The Reason: To help build a new Shriners Hospital for Children
When Ralph Hutchison was starting out in his business career in Peterborough, Ont., a friend got him involved in Shriners. That was 50 years ago and Mr. Hutchison has remained an active Shriner, including serving as a volunteer driver to take children for treatment at Shriners clinics.
Now 90 years old, Mr. Hutchison has donated $100,000 toward the construction of a $130-million Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal within the McGill University Health Centre complex.
Shriners "is an organization that has benefited so many, many people," said Mr. Hutchison, a retired industrial lighting consultant who lives in Kleinburg, Ont. This week Mr. Hutchison joined a group of Shriners at a ribbon-cutting event (the hospital will officially open in October). "It is exciting," he said before leaving.
He hopes to remain active in Shriners for many more years, as a volunteer and donor. "Once a Shriner, always a Shriner," he said with a laugh.
pwaldie@globeandmail.com