Drummond Foundation invests in Concordia's PERFORM Centre

Direct care for the elderly

The Drummond Foundation’s origins date back to the late 19th century, making it one of the oldest charitable foundations in Montreal. In 1893, George A. Drummond and Lady Julia Drummond purchased the Notman House in order to establish a home for the benefit of elderly women living alone. The prominent Scottish entrepreneurs financed a plan to extend the house and named it St. Margaret’s Home.

After operating under the Drummond Trusts for close to a century, the home became a public institution in 1982 and moved to Westmount, Que. That’s when the foundation saw an opportunity to re-evaluate its program.

“We decided to use the relatively modest income that we had from the foundation to focus on three areas,” McNiven explains. “These include direct care for the elderly, social outreach programs and scientific research grants.”

Today the foundation provides seed money to research programs as a basis for securing more elaborate funding from major research-funding agencies.

For Gauthier, whose project aims to clarify the relationships between healthy aging, exercise and cognition, the foundation’s contribution will have a significant impact on Quebec’s elderly population.

“We know very little about what exercise does to the brain and how it links to preserved cognition in aging,” says Gauthier. “Thanks to the Drummond Foundation, I am now able to look at how exercise training changes vascular and metabolic health in the brains of older adults, and how that links with cognition.”

Kakinami is the principal investigator on the Diet for Arthritis project, which seeks to improve our understanding of eating behaviour among people living with arthritis. She agrees that the research grant will help many older Canadians, particularly those living with arthritis.

“The Drummond Foundation’s support is allowing us to conduct this pilot study alongside nutritionists and PERFORM Centre staff in an equal partnership,” says Kakinami. “This collaboration has enabled us to develop a project that is grounded in theory while incorporating the perspectives and knowledge of those who work directly with people living with arthritis.”

The future of philanthropy

McNiven believes that after the Second World War many Quebecers adopted the notion that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of health, social services and education. He says that by doing this, much got lost in the process, including the connective tissue between communities and the people who need help.

“I think we are evolving away from that,” McNiven says. “People and governments recognize that for things to be more effective, they need to partner with the private sector.”