Barbara and Patrick Keenan

Toronto’s Caring Angels: Barbara and Patrick Keenan understand how their donations can propel an organization to the next level

 
by Coke Buchanan

 
“If I had a half million dollars,” reads the headline of the Yonge Street Mission Newsletter. Like several organizations in Canada, the opportunity to put such a grand sum to work seems like a dream. Through the generosity of the Patrick and Barbara Keenan Foundation, many have seen that dream – and more – come true.

The Toronto Association of Fundraising Professionals recently honored Patrick and Barbara Keenan of Toronto, Canada, as Outstanding Philanthropists of 2003. Reaching this level of appreciation signifies extraordinary philanthropic activity. The Keenans have an impressive, insightful ability to see how their donations can propel an organization to the next level in serving its community. Through their vision and trailblazing generosity, Patrick Keenan, a Toronto accountant with a career in international mining, and his wife, Barbara, have created a plethora of grateful organizations.

St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation. “The Keenans have demonstrated their leadership time and time again, being one of the first donors to contribute…and setting an example which others have followed,” says Jeffrey Lozon, president and CEO of St. Michael’s Hospital.

“During a fiscally challenging time, when research was not a priority, the Keenans, on their own initiative, supplied St. Michael’s Hospital with a $2 million donation for the Hospital’s first endowed chair, the Keenan Chair in Medicine for Nephrology research. The Keenans understood the importance of teaching and research, and given our Hospital’s association with the University of Toronto, the absolute need to enhance our research profile. Their vision and endorsement allowed us to successfully emerge from this period, and continue to be defining factors in the subsequent growth of our research programs.”

The Keenans also took the lead in raising $1 million for dialysis machines, $1 million for a new floor for the nephrology patients, initial funding for an organ donor coordinator, and a $5 million endowment for research for innovative kidney gene research. In the wake of September 11, their support of the hospital’s 2002 Brazilian Ball for Heart Disease encouraged others to support the event. The Keenans’ support of its Organ Donation Program allowed St. Michael’s to take the lead in affecting significant improvements and change to organ donation programs across the province and country, and led to St. Michael’s more than doubling its rate of organ donations.

Young Street Mission. “Patrick and Barbara Keenan, and their daughter, Gwen, have proved to be dedicated and generous friends, and supporters of the Mission,” says Barbara Walkden, director of development. “Their caring vision and sense of responsibility, exemplified in the gift to the Mission of $500,000, will reap many positive long-term benefits in the future of at-risk infants, children, youth, young families, and disadvantaged adults living in poverty in Toronto’s inner-city.”

“It was overwhelming to see all that was going on at the mission. For the people who were there, this is the center of their lives,” says Patrick Keenan. “You couldn’t help but understand its critical importance to people.” The funds will be used to upgrade the building and provide an additional 5,000 feet of much-needed program space. The Keenans stipulated that their initial $100,000 gift be designated to redesign the community center’s lobby to ensure that all who enter the lobby are immediately welcomed into an atmosphere of hope, support, and friendship. The Keenans’ exceptional generosity encouraged corporate leaders to follow their example.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Learning of a diagnosis of kidney disease is emotionally and physically trying for the patient and his family. A grant by the Keenan Foundation allowed the Kidney Foundation to expand the staff and provide greater one-on-one benefits of its Peer Support Program to two previously unavailable high-need areas, Simcoe and Durham.

University of St. Michael’s College. Through a gift of $1 million, the University of St. Michael’s College, Canada’s largest English-speaking Catholic university, was able to establish a major graduate teaching initiative in religious education and accelerate the realization of institutional priorities in new program development. The gift, a departure from contributions received by religious orders, was a cornerstone in private giving, encouraging Ontario Catholics to recognize and assume responsibility for activities that benefit the entire community.

The Keenans have also generously supported the Royal Ontario Museum; McGill University; the Basilian Fathers: Camp St. Lucia; and David Suzuki Foundation: Web of Life. They have also established the Critical Care Fund at St. Paul’s Hospital in British Columbia to network its intensive care units.

“How does a person find the courage to give such large sums of money?” Hamilton entrepreneur Charlie Juravinski once asked his friend, Patrick Keenan, after the Keenans donated $2 million to St. Michael’s Hospital. “It’s a genuine honor to be in a position to give, and very gratifying,” Patrick answered. The gift inspired Charlie and his wife Margaret, leading to $16 million in donations to various institutions within the Hamilton healthcare umbrella.

During the fellowship of a presentation ceremony at the Yonge Street Mission, a board member expressed to the Keenans a feeling that many others share when she said, “We thank God He prospered you; but, most of all, we thank God that He gave you a caring heart.”