DONOR David Young
TITLE President, The Hamilton Group, Inc.
GIFT $3 million to the Evergreen Brick Works
David Young is a philanthropist, even if he is reluctant to admit it.
The foundation he oversees, the Michael Young Family Foundation, is now listed as a founding patron of such vital city projects as the Evergreen Brick Works, to which they donated $3 million; the Young Centre for the Performing Arts; and the Luminato festival, to name a few.
When David’s brother Michael was diagnosed, for a second time, with cancer, it was his wish to donate a sum of his wealth to his place of treatment during his illness, the Princess Margaret Hospital.
“I was always Mike’s financial manager, as he had very little interest in money, to be honest,”David says and laughs, speaking on the phone from the Yorkville office of his equipment leasing business.
Shortly after the initial donation was made in 2001, Michael passed away. David continued with the foundation, supported by Michael’s remaining donations and David’s contributions.
“I initially suggested [creating the foundation] to Michael, and he was all for it,”David explains.“Mike wanted to give money, and I wanted to see how it worked and what else we wanted to give it to, to learn better. So basically,we set it up to invest, as our first major donation, to cancer research.”
The foundation has been involved with Moorelands Community Services, which provides programming for youth in the city’s poorer communities; the Art Gallery of Ontario’s redevelopment plan, Transformation AGO; and the newest Artscape development, which will see the historic Shaw Street School in the West Queen West neighbourhood transformed into affordable creative workspaces for the arts community.
David is particularly excited about the Evergreen Brick Works, the environmental community commons that is situated right in Rosedale’s backyard, in the heart of the Don River Valley.“I’ve always walked by the Brick Works, and it was always there, just this sitting gem,”he says.