Our Donors

Donors to the CAMH Foundation help to improve the lives of those facing mental illness and addiction. Thanks to their generosity, CAMH is able to carry out groundbreaking research, make advances in education and health promotion and provide clients with the best of care. Take a moment to meet our donors and be inspired.

In the Swing of Giving

Toronto dance community comes together for CAMH

Julie Epplett presents CAMH Foundation Vice President of Community Development Dean Hughes with the funds raised from her dance benefit at Dovercourt House.

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.”
The words of Friedrich Nietzsche - and the mantra of Julie Epplett, Certified Meeting Professional, life-long dance enthusiast and possibly Toronto’s biggest advocate of West Coast Swing. She’s also one of the newest additions to the expanding family of CAMH supporters.

On November 11, 2008, Julie hosted the 2nd annual dance benefit at the Dovercourt House dance studio and raised over $2500 for CAMH. She let everyone she could know about the “pay what you can” event by posting signs in dance spaces and using her extensive newsletter email list.

Having been exposed to CAMH through a friend’s involvement with its services was enough to convince her to participate. More than that, she knows all too well the impact of mental illness and addiction and how crucial treatment services are to clients - Julie’s brother, Michael, struggled for years with drug addiction and finally lost that battle.

In fact, the event marked the date of his passing. Julie considers this a phenomenal tribute to her brother and a great way to promote healing in her own way, and hopes that she will be able to make this benefit an annual event,

“Dancing has such a wide variety of health benefits, both physically and mentally,” says Julie. “I’ve personally used dance to help me through some rough times, and I know many of my students turn to dance to gain confidence and keep themselves connected with a larger community.”