In July, the Douglas Institute Foundation solicited some members of the Douglas Family to participate in a gratitude initiative toward our donors. The Foundation would like to thank them for helping in recognizing the generosity of 650 loyal Douglas donors, by hand-signing special thank you cards. This initiative garnered positive feedback not just by donors, but also by many who appreciated having the opportunity to thank the donors directly. Some even asked for more cards. As for the donors, some immediately sent a donation and others took the time to call the Foundation to share how much they appreciated receiving the hand-signed thank you cards. The Foundation is thrilled that this initiative was such a success and we will continue to request the involvement of many other members of the Douglas Family in future communications with donors.

Special thanks to: Claudette Allard, Marie-Gabrielle Ayoub, Maxime Barakat, Martin Beauchamp, geneviève bich, David Bloom, Steve Castonguay, Danielle Cécyre, Lou Choffe, Paul Cooke, Anne Crocker, Michel Dalton, Peter Daniel, Dolly Dastoor, MA Davoli, Serge Dispaltro, Johanne Dubé, Marie-Josée Fleury, Amparo Garcia, Michel Gauvin, Nicole Germain, Marie Giguère, Michelle Gilbert, Bruno Giros, André Giroux, Alain Gratton, Nathalie Grizenko, Jacques Hendlisz, Yvonne Hindle, Joseph Iannicelli, Mimi Israel, Ridha Joober, Suzanne King, Jocelyne Lahoud, Samarthji Lal, Stéphanie Lassonde, Eric Latimer, Martin Lepage, Brian Lindy, Ashok Malla, John Matheson, Naguib Mechawar, Daniel Mercier, François Morin, Vasavan Nair, Michael Novak, Lisa O’Reilly, Francine Paquette, Franca Pieropan, Sue Potter Lee, Hélène Racine, Joe Rochford, Ron Sehn, Beth Smeaton, Evangeline Smith, Jean-Pierre Taillon, Jean-Bernard Trudeau, Gustavo Turecki, Claire-Dominique Walker and Camillo Zacchia.

"It is important that our donors feel we appreciate them, after all, it is the generosity of each one of them, whatever the amount of their gift, that allows the Foundation to raise approximately $2 million per year", said Jane Lalonde, Foundation's president. "These donors believe in us and believe in the vision and the mission of the Douglas Institute. Their donations allow us to improve patient care and pursue the advancement of knowledge and best practices through research and teaching."

The Foundation would like to take this opportunity to remind anyone who may not have had the time yet to complete the cards that we would appreciate it if they could be done by August 15th. If you were away or foresee the inability to complete them, please return them to the Foundation office (Dobell, office 1229) and we will redistribute them.