90 Years of Discovery and Hope in B.C.: Four Families Give Back Across Generations

Giving Spans Generations

“Work hard, live well and give back,” says Bill McCarthy of the ethos his grandfather John Jambor — a Slovak immigrant who spent his life paying it forward in appreciation of Canada’s opportunities — has instilled in four generations of the McCarthy family.

Since 1970, their support has included an educational fund to empower BC Cancer researchers, a transformational charitable bequest and Bill’s son John McCarthy’s dedicated leadership as the youngest board chair in BC Cancer Foundation history. All with a vision of giving back to the community by bringing cancer care closer to home — a goal they helped realize in 2024 when they invested in the BC Cancer – Burnaby McCarthy Centre.

Inspiring a World First

“BC Cancer had the technology, progressive thinking and willingness to take the leap into precision medicine,” says Laurie Rix on her father Dr. Don Rix’s refusal to accept standard care for his rare cancer, which pushed his B.C. oncologists to become the first in the world to use genomic sequencing to inform treatment in 2010.

Laurie was impacted by cancer again when her husband, broadcaster Neil Macrae, was diagnosed with breast cancer and genetic analysis uncovered a BRCA mutation that increased his risk. In 2020, in addition to raising awareness of breast cancer in men, the Rix Family Foundation generously invested in BC Cancer research into rare and hard-to-treat forms of the disease.   

Hope for Families

“It’s for our daughters, for everyone’s daughters,” says Jill Diamond and Lauri Glotman on their family’s generous investment in BC Cancer’s Hereditary Cancer Program, to arm more women and their families with the knowledge about their increased risk of cancer and the preventative measures they can take.

In advancing cancer research in B.C., the Diamond family’s roots run deep — to the very land the L.J. Blackmore Cancer Research Centre stands on as Gordon Diamond gifted the plot to BC Cancer in 1997.

Investing in the Community

“Supporting the BC Cancer Foundation has always been a way for our family to touch the lives of as many people on Vancouver Island as possible,” says Lorne Campbell whose late father Alex Campbell — founder of Thrifty Foods — believed with success came an obligation to give back.

The Campbell family’s commitment to improving cancer care for Islanders began in 2001 when Alex chaired the Daring to Believe campaign that founded BC Cancer – Victoria. A decade later, Alex and his wife, Jo, led fundraising for its expansion, and today their children, Bonnie, Lorne and Alex Jr., continue the legacy by supporting a new space for BC Cancer’s supportive care programs.  to rally their communities to make a difference in the lives of people facing cancer.