http://www.torontolife.com/daily/hype/shelf-life/2010/06/07/new-yorker-puts-toronto-writers-on-its-top-20-under-40-list/.

Borrow your cash, take your chances.

House rich and cash poor turn to reverse mortgages.

Canadians must understand some new rules governing borrowing when shopping for a mortgage.

He released his strategy Canada-wide in December of 2002, in his new book entitled The Smith Manoeuvre (through Trafford Publishing).

For over twenty years, until his retirement in 2002, Smith provided financial planning and tax advice to individuals and families from all walks of life.

Read more about Fraser Smith at Zoomer profile: BC philanthropist Fraser Smith.

So Mr. Smith challenged the community of over 37,000 to attract thousands of endorsements. In the process Fraser will make a donation of $1 to the Foundation every time a Saanich Peninsula resident goes to www.itsourhospital.ca and endorses the Foundation.  Other members of the local community, including Smith’s pre-school grandchildren, have already said they will be partially or fully matching the pledge. 

“The Foundation is a wonderful organization,” says Fraser Smith. “It supports the local hospital, which is a vital institution in the surrounding community.”  The  Saanich Peninsula Hospital is located just north of Victoria, B.C.

Fraser Smith is a community activist and the best selling author of  The Smith Manoeuvre, a strategy that enables Canadian homeowners to make their mortgages tax deductible. 

The mandate of the Foundation is to raise money for equipment and facilities in support of the hospital.  These would include beds, wheelchairs, CT scan equipment, X-ray machines, ultrasound equipment, among others.   

Perhaps the Foundation’s biggest accomplishment was providing the lion’s share of funding to expand the emergency room from 1,900 square feet to 10,000 square feet.  In the last couple of years the Foundation has raised $4.3 million and hopes to raise $2.7 million in the current fiscal year.

Karen Morgan, Executive Director, Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation, values her organization’s nomination for the Crystal Award.

“It’s a nice validation of the work that the hospital Foundation does…We’ve got an extremely supportive community out here.  They’ve given us both moral and financial support over the years and have proven that they really do feel a sense of ownership about the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.  Recognition from the Chamber would take it to a whole new level,” says Ms.  Morgan.   Ms. Morgan has suggested transferring the formula for success of this campaign to other Foundations.

It is the type of initiative that CARP, a national advocacy group that speaks for Canada’s aging population, supports.  

“Mr. Smith puts into action the kind of commitment to community focused services that will ensure everyone can access necessary medical care regardless of where they live. Community support is even more vital at times of budget constraints,” says Susan Eng, CARP’s Vice President, Advocacy.

There are few bigger supporters of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital than local residents Jennifer and Eric Verscheure.  The hospital has shown heart warming support as Eric battles chronic pain and fatigue.

“They’ve just been very attentive and kind. The emergency doctors have spent more time than they needed to. There is a real [warmth] in the way they interact  – rather than the clinical treating of people like a number.   That’s been really wonderful -  to be able to have a hospital in our community that’s so close to where we live -  to be able to go and feel safe and supported,” says Ms. Verscheure, who is Fraser Smith’s daughter.

While John Treleaven, president, Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, must remain neutral in the awards competition, the publicity surrounding the support for the Foundation is certainly welcome.

“We obviously welcome this kind of initiative for a number reasons not the least of which is that it spreads more information around the Peninsula and elsewhere…and that’s good for the Chamber,” says Mr. Treleaven. 

“The awards matter to companies which are doing great things.  The competition for these awards is always intense and the decisions the selection committee must take, always difficult.  That is a good thing.   Fraser [Smith] and the group have really found a way to spread the impact of our awards process.”

“Foundations have a very critical role to play with every hospital in Canada…in the end their efforts are all about permitting that hospital to maintain and expand a medical infrastructure beyond the ability of the health care system to finance it….” says Mr. Treleaven.

As for Fraser Smith, he is working the phones to get others to match his pledge of $1 for every endorsement form filled out at www.itsourhospital.ca.

“Whether one is young or old, it is vital to do everything we can to support our local hospital.  I know several people who owe their lives and better health to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.  Our community efforts will not only reward the Foundation for great work but this effort will raise funds for the operating room and other hospital services,” says Fraser Smith.