News from the Foundation

Dear Colleagues,

Last month, as part of Family Medicine Forum, more than 90 members were recognized for advancing the discipline of family medicine and for superb service to their patients and communities. Celebrating excellence and supporting members in their educational and research activities has been made possible through funding from the Research and Education Foundation (REF). The REF was created in 1994 through the vision and leadership of my predecessors, Drs Reg Perkin and Cal Gutkin. Through donations from the corporate sector, other foundations, CFPC staff, and you, our members, the Foundation has been able to raise more than $14 million since its inception.

During the past 12 months, the board of the Foundation has embarked on a process of reflection, taking stock of the past and envisioning the desired future. We believed that we needed to reflect our discipline, family medicine, in our name, mission, and vision and that we needed to affirm the dimension of philanthropy, as a means to an end, as not all foundations are philanthropic. The REF board wanted to continue to espouse good governance and also recognized the need to have individuals with stronger fundraising skills within its governance structure. Members of the Foundation (who are the directors of the CFPC board) agreed with the proposed direction and voted in favour of a smaller, skills-based board. They also approved a new name, vision, and mission. The Foundation, now known as the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine (FAFM), has a renewed vision of the “Best care for all—leading in family medicine through philanthropy” and a mission of “Advancing excellence in research, education and service in family medicine through philanthropy.”¹

I wish to thank our REF colleagues for their hard work and dedication to help achieve this milestone. The Governance Restructuring Implementation Transition Taskforce includes, in addition to myself, Dr Catherine Cervin, REF Chair; Dr Marie-Dominique Beaulieu, REF Vice-Chair; Dr Ralph Masi, REF Past Chair; Dr Jeanette Boyd, Honorary Secretary-Treasurer; and Theresa Maguire-Garber, Executive Director of Corporate Services. I also extend my appreciation to Mr Robert Zed, a volunteer consultant, and I thank the REF voting members, champions, stakeholders, Chapters, and staff for your confidence and support. We will be recruiting FAFM board members, and anyone with interest, experience, and passion can contact us to receive an application (FAFM{at}cfpc.ca). More information on the FAFM (www.cfpc.ca/FAFM) and on the CFPC’s Honours and Awards program (www.cfpc.ca/AboutUs/Awards) can be found on our website.

We are pleased that, in the past year, Scotiabank has renewed, and, in fact, increased its support of the Foundation for the next 3 years and that TD Insurance Meloche Monnex has renewed and increased its support for the next 10 years. We are also delighted to have recently signed a memorandum of understanding between Dr Sadok Besrour, the CFPC, and the FAFM to support the activities of the Besrour Centre (www.cfpc.ca/The_Besrour_Centre).² I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his donation and for his support of the Besrour Centre.

What do we hope to achieve as we look to the future of the FAFM? We hope to build upon accomplishments in supporting members in their educational and research endeavours, celebrate the outstanding achievements of our members, stimulate innovation, and, above all, support and celebrate family physicians as agents of change in their communities.

Fundraising is very much about developing and sustaining relationships. Potential donors are always interested in discovering the level of financial support provided by members. I encourage you to express your support for the advancement of family medicine by including FAFM in your year-end donations (www.cfpc.ca/FAFM).

The future of the FAFM is bright! On behalf of all of us at the CFPC and the FAFM, best wishes for the holiday season and for 2017.

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