CURRIER: Manitobans are generous, giving even when it hurts

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Manitobans are a generous bunch. The folks in this province have long prided themselves on their generosity, even in difficult times. The most recent statistics available, which are from 2022, have Manitobans first in Canada when it comes to charitable donations. That’s right. Manitoba gives more per capita than any other province or territory.

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Typical of the citizens of this middle-of-the-country province, there’s no conceit about it. We just do it. The Children’s Hospital Foundation announced this week that it has exceeded its five-year goal of raising $75 million. The final tally was $86.8 million and we’re talking about much of that cash coming in during COVID. Impressive? No. It’s phenomenal. We may have our failings as Manitobans but parsimony is not among them.

There are thousands of registered not-for-profit organizations in our province and the competition for dollars is fierce. To be sure the Children’s Hospital Foundation is one of the biggies. Others have to scrap for what they can get after the highest-profile players scoop up the biggest dollars.

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Whether it comes from grade school kids selling lemonade, small local businesses dipping into their narrow profit margins to help out or barbeques and bake sales, the money flows. In the case of Children’s Hospital Foundation it was all of those along with support from a list of donors too lengthy to name here. You can find the list on the Foundation’s website.

Golf tournaments. There’s scarcely a day that goes by from June through September that there isn’t a charity golf tournament or two somewhere in Manitoba. Fall and Spring it’ll be fundraising gala dinners.

Stephano Grande is the president and CEO of the Children’s Hospital Foundation and is in wonderment of how it all happens. “There’s thousands of people who give every single month. It’s amazing that those least able to give are giving.”

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It’s also major donors. And this is perhaps the most under-reported and certainly under-appreciated aspect of Manitoba’s generosity. Thanks to the largesse of Gerry and Barb Price of Price Industries, there’s a new heart centre at the hospital. They also brought on board other wealthy people to give large amounts. It’s how so many projects get funded. One of the people with big cash gets on board and can draw in others who will step up.

Successful people almost invariably feel a responsibility to give back and spread the wealth that they have. They don’t have to give but they do and they do it in a big way. Just to acknowledge the cynics who say they only do it for a tax writeoff, there are plenty of ways to reduce the amount of tax paid without charitable giving. They could just as easily buy a money-losing business and get a write-off that way. Instead, it gets spread around to the hundreds of thousands of Manitobans who need help, like the 50,000 or so kids who go to the Children’s Hospital each year.

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Despite how our most successful people often face resentment for their good fortune, they remain committed Manitobans and continue to give. It doesn’t just happen with this one project. The same money people are hit up for every significant project. Some end up with their names on buildings. Most do not.

“It’s very special,” says Grande.” We understand that to accomplish things in this province we have to work together.” Like many others in similar positions, Grande works with Manitoba’s philanthropists daily. Instead of saying “It’s special” he might have said “They’re special” because they are.

— Geoff Currier is a former Winnipeg broadcaster.

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