BC Cancer Foundation Donor Bill McCarthy Receives Highest Honour in B.C.
August 6, 2024
Found in BC Cancer - Burnaby
The BC Cancer Foundation proudly congratulates longtime partner Bill McCarthy on his recent appointment to the Order of B.C.
A passionate philanthropist and life-long proponent for the city of Burnaby, Bill’s tireless advocacy for bringing cancer care closer to home for families in his beloved community is truly deserving of the province’s highest form of recognition.
Bill’s support of BC Cancer dates back more than 50 years. While visiting with his grandfather, John Jambor, who was being treated at BC Cancer – Vancouver, they noticed many patients were cut off from the support of family and friends, with only one phone available. To rectify this, John and Bill purchased landlines for every bed in the ward.
As a thank you, they were given a tour of the Vancouver research centre and Bill dedicated himself to empowering the excellence he witnessed at BC Cancer. After John left a bequest in his will, it grew to an astounding $21.4 million under Bill’s astute watch, before being gifted to the Foundation in 2012.
To date, the McCarthy family has funded over $30 million in cancer research, education and health care in B.C. — all, according to Bill, under the guiding principle of his grandfather’s credo of, “Work hard, live well and give back.”
We are extremely grateful to Bill for instilling these exemplary ethics in his own children, having reached record-breaking revenues under the leadership of Bill’s son, the Foundation’s immediate past board chair, John McCarthy, who is helping steer our historic $500 million Beyond Belief Campaign to transform cancer research and care across B.C.
The McCarthy family’s most recent donation of $5 million is realizing a dream 50 years in the making for their family, redeveloping the Burnaby Hospital to include a BC Cancer centre. In honour of their generosity, the new centre will be named BC Cancer – Burnaby McCarthy Centre ensuring Bill’s indelible legacy lives on, and is recognized, for many more generations to come.
