Philanthropic culture alive and well at Raymond James.

August 28, 2020

The Raymond James Canada Foundation is humbled by the incredible generosity of our associates and advisors.  In less than 12 months, our employees and associates have responded to 4 global disasters with open hearts and wallets. Disaster Relief response is just one pillar of our Foundation, and yet the last year has seen unprecedented requests for financial support as the sheer volume of crises continues to climb.

Hurricane Dorian led to loss of life and billions of dollars in damages in the Bahamas and stretching as far north as Nova Scotia at the end of 2019. Our Foundation granted $60,000 to the Canadian Red Cross in response to this disaster. Only a few months later, extreme temperatures and lightening led to vast bush fires in Australia which burned up millions of hectares and killed an estimated 500 million wild animals. RJ associates responded once again with urgency as we cut another cheque for $60,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to aid relief efforts.

Only a couple of months later, no one would have predicted the global impact of COVID-19, which embroiled the world in the largest humanitarian crisis we have seen since World War II, leading to nearly 800k recorded deaths and economic devastation, the impact of which is still not fully understood. RJ associates again showed compassion and empathy, and we generously raised, matched and distributed $200,000 to fund 44 direct service charities we had existing relationships to provide for the immediate food, shelter and mental health support needs of Canadians impacted physically and financially by COVID-19.

Eight months into 2020, who would have believed that another crisis would tap the cumulative resources of RJ associates!  A massive explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon, killed over 200 people, rendering 8000 people homeless; our teams here in Canada rallied national support for the cause. Associate Investment Advisor Aya Kadi from our 3Macs division shared that her cousins, aunts and uncles keep repeating to her “Aya, we are heartbroken, hopeless and afraid. There’s no work, no food, no money.” They do not feel safe. In any way.

People’s homes and businesses were levelled and a key port destroyed. Once again, we called for support, and RJ associates answered with $45,000 in donations in 5 days. With Foundation matching dollars and additional government matching through the Humanitarian Coalition, the total contribution for Lebanon is $116,000.  Raymond James Ltd, CEO and Chairman, Paul Allison, commented: “we could not be more proud of our associates for their extreme generosity especially in the time of COVID-19 and global instability and financial uncertainty.”

Janine Davies, Executive Director & Vice President of the Raymond James Canada Foundation stated that “the spirit of giving is strong at Raymond James and we respond to crises that are championed by our associates.  Aya is one of the many advisors at RJ who volunteer, donate and support others.  We are proud of her and her team’s initiative and we are grateful that she and others like her have the confidence to share their stories.”

We would like to thank every volunteer, donor and contributor to the Raymond James Canada Foundation for their continued generosity and grit.  It takes deep commitment to continue to respond to the needs of others whether financial or otherwise.  We believe that donor fatigue doesn’t exist at RJ. The compassionate response of our associates and advisors is reflective of the culture of giving at RJ, and the belief that each donation can and will make a difference.