Located in Toronto, Ontario, Baycrest Health Sciences is a global leader in geriatric residential living, healthcare, research, innovation and education, with a special focus on brain health and aging. Their charitable wing, the Baycrest Foundation, provides funding that will help define the future of brain health.
One of the biggest threats to our brains is Alzheimer’s Disease, a common type of dementia that leads to memory loss and loss of function. In order to help raise funds Alzheimer’s reserach, former president of the Foundation, Mark Gryfe, created a hockey charity event during the 2005 NHL lockout. This event became known as the Scotiabank Pro-Am for Alzheimer’s – the largest charitable on-ice hockey tournament in North America. And it’s been happening annually ever since
Dawn Collins, Manager of Hockey Operations for Scotiabank Pro-Am for Alzheimer’s, explains, “We are the pioneer of having a charity hockey event with ex-NHL pros in Canada – nobody else did it before us.”
With 435 registered players, including 26 Toronto Maple Leafs and NHL alumni, the latest event raised $1.5 million for Alzheimer’s research.
The biggest contributor to the event’s continued success year over year is to have “a strong core of participants who care about the cause, and a team of people who are committed to making this event the best possible player experience possible.”
If you’re a charitable foundation looking to start holding your own event like Scotiabank Pro-Am for Alzheimer’s, take a page out of Baycrest’s book and leverage your connections – you might be surprised at who’s willing to help. And once you begin making your event an annual occurrence, continue to find new ways to surprise and engage your participants – it’s the key to creating not only regular participants, but potential supporters for life.
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