ABOUT LFJ

Lorraine Johnston was born on February 2, 1921. She was a loving mother, devoted wife and a vibrant member of the North Toronto Community, which included a long standing presidency at the UCW of St. Georges United Church. In her passing, she became a source of inspiration and hope to our family in helping to battle this disease. Each year, ahead of making our final contribution to an Alzheimer’s related institution and/or individual, we visit the recipient to satisfy that at least one of our criteria for family support, education, service and research is met.

We are pleased to announce that since its inception in 2002 and not­withstanding Hurricane Isabel’s intrusion in 2003 the Lorraine Johnston Foundation will surpass $420,000.00 in charitable donations this year. Each year our fundraising brings together a fabulous mixture of terrific people, great golf and a real sense of community. We sincerely appre­ciate your participation and generosity through the years as we move closer to finding a cure.

BENEFICIARIES

CHARITIES RECEIVING FUNDS FROM THE LORRAINE JOHNSTON FOUNDATION

2024 – $10,000 – Providence Villa, Adult Day Program
The Adult Day Program is a Providence Villa initiative providing care during the day for those suffering from Alzheimer’s. It gives the primary caregiver time to do other tasks and provides an enriching environment for the person with Alzheimer’s. Your donation will allow clients, who cannot afford transportation, to get to and from the Adult Day Program.

 

2024 – $30,000 – The Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund
Your donation will allow CMTF to implement a year-long music therapy program for Lakeside LTC, Downsview LTC, and Hellenic Home who have all experienced financial constraints since the pandemic. Your support will provide weekly group and/or individual sessions for residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia with no cost to the residents.

 

2023 – $10,000 – Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation (Collingwood)
The Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation provides compassionate care in the home and at Campbell House for individuals and families dealing with life-limiting illness. Care programs come at no cost to the patient or client and focus on the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of both the patient and family, enhancing quality of life.

 

2022 – $10,000 – The Baycrest Foundation – Dr. Claude Alain (Toronto)
We donated these funds to The Baycrest Centre Foundation to support the research of Dr. Claude Alain, a scientist on staff. Your donation will support Dr. Alain’s research into assessing the relationship of 3 auditory paradigms to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The hypothesis is that these markers will allow clinicians to diagnose the advent of MCI via an EEG, allowing for cost effective diagnoses and earlier, efficacious treatments.

 

2021 – $40,000 – County of Simcoe (Simcoe)
We donated these funds during the pandemic for the county of Simcoe to purchase personal protective equipment for long-term care nursing homes in Beeton, Orillia and Penetanguishene.

 

2020 – $20,000 – Fairview Nursing Home (Toronto)
As a response to senior citizens being trapped in long term care facilities due to the advent of Covid-19, we donated these funds to Fairview Nursing Home in the west end of Toronto, a nursing home for 200 residents, many of whom have Alzheimer’s. The donation was utilized in a variety of ways and helped to keep Covid-19 out of Fairview and ending the lives of our most vulnerable citizens.

 

2019 – $20,000 – Sunset Manor (Collingwood)

We donated to the Give a Lift initiative at Sunset Manor Long-Term Care Home in Collingwood to help seniors, diagnosed with cognitive impairments such as dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, to get out into the community about 20 times a month. This allows residents to relive memories, make connections with their past and participate in their communities for many years to come – a very worthwhile program.

 

2018 – $20,000 SPRINT Senior Care (Toronto)

We donated these funds to SPRINT Senior Care to recognize and support the good work they do in serving those coping with Alzheimer’s in their respite care program located in East York. We donated to their Music Therapy program again because clearly, when we visited the program, it was a social, happy, musical event for all involved – indeed, an emotional one to observe. We also donated to support the development of an Art Therapy program at SPRINT’s request. As well, your donation will support increased access to the Adult Day Program for low income people with dementia. SPRINT is a recognized leader in the Toronto community in providing good care for senior citizens.

https://sprintseniorcare.org/

 

2018 – $10,000 Alzheimer’s Society of Oxford

Your donation helped to support an initiative by The Alzheimer Society of Oxford – a pilot project, titled Minds In Motion, for individuals with the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and their family member or friend.

Minds In Motion is an eight week program that provides a safe and welcoming opportunity for individuals with the diagnosis and their family member to come together with others in the same situation to enjoy and benefit from physical exercise, brain stimulating exercises and a social time.  When someone is living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, the loss of abilities and the frustrations of daily life is very challenging for the person and for their family members and other loved ones.  Having the opportunity to participate in a program that is good for your mental and physical welfare as well as provide you with a place where you can be accepted and supported is a welcomed respite.

 

2017 – $20,000 – The Baycrest Foundation – Dr. Claude Alain (Toronto)

We, again, donated to The Baycrest Centre Foundation to support the research of Dr. Claude Alain, a scientist on staff. Your donation will continue to support Dr. Alain’s research into enhancing memory in older adults / Alzheimer’s patients with cognitive impairment. Dr Alain’s findings to date have been very positive, albeit with a limited sample size. Your donation has enabled this research study to access matching funding from several other sources.

 

2017 – $20,000 – SPRINT Senior Care (Toronto)

We donated to SPRINT Senior Care in support of two initatives; we are supplying seed funding for the development of three music therapy programs – one in their day program, one in their residential program (Ewart Angus) and one in their Pine Villa transitional supportive housing site. The relationship between music and life enhancement for people with Alzheimer’s is well known. As well, your donation will support increased access to the Adult Day Program for low income people with dementia. SPRINT is a recognized leader in the Toronto community in providing good care for senior citizens.

 

2016 – $20,000  The Baycrest Foundation – Dr. Claude Alain (Toronto)

We donated to The Baycrest Centre Foundation to support the unfunded research of Dr. Claude Alain, a scientist on staff. Your donation will support Dr. Alain’s research into enhancing memory in older adults / Alzheimer’s patients with cognitive impairment.  Dr. Alain is attempting to stimulate memory by combining Brain Stimulation techniques with music known to the patient. It is hoped that this intervention could be organized in a way to enhance family-patient visits and relationships.

 

2015 – $15,000 – Sunset Manor (Collingwood)

We donated these funds to Sunset Manor, a nursing home with 32 beds for seniors with advanced dementia.   Their Montessori Program sets up learning environments familiar to the resident where they are able to establish comfort and success in a known context. The Director of Resident Care spoke again at our tournament in 2016.

2015 – $15,000 – Women’s Brain Health Initiative

The Women’s Brain Health Initiative creates education programs and funds research to combat brain aging diseases that affect women. Women suffer from depression, stroke and dementia twice as much as men and an astounding 70% of new Alzheimer’s patients will be women. Yet research still focuses on men. The Women’s Brain Health Initiative is correcting this research bias. Their magazine, “Mind Over Matter”, published annually, is accessible, substantive and very engaging.

 

2014 – $10,000 – The Dotsa Bitove Wellness Academy, UHN – Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation (Toronto)

This Academy provided a compassionate and safe care environment that aimed to enrich the lives of those living with mild to moderate dementia, where families and caregivers had access to a forum for support and care to promote wellness and respect for these individuals. The Lorraine Johnston Scholarship provided financial support to participants who could not otherwise afford to attend the day program.

 

2014 – $15,000  The Victoria Order of Nurses, Alzheimer’s Day Care Program (Collingwood)

This program provides specialized therapeutic, social and recreational activities for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders in a secure environment.  Staff offer creative programs to build the strengths of the clients.

2013 – $20,000 – Sunset Manor (Collingwood)

A nursing home for 150 residents, most of whom have Alzheimer’s.  They have initiated a Montessori Program which depends on outside funding to operate.  The philosophy is to ensure an individual not only has high self-esteem but be as independent as possible.  Your donation is helping in very specific ways to make these goals a reality.  The Director of Resident Care was a guest speaker at our tournament 2014.

 

2013 – $25,000 – The Dotsa Bitove Wellness Academy, UHN – Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation (Toronto)

please see above

 

2012 – $10,000 – Cedarhurst Homes (Toronto)

An intimate, caring home exclusively for people living with early to middle stages of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia in a community setting. Your donation provided seed funding for the purchase of supplies and the development of a monthly Art Therapy program.

 

2011 – $10,000 – Grove Park Home (Barrie)

Your donation has provided funding for residents at Grove Park Home, who could not afford music therapy, to engage in group and individual sessions with a music therapist helping those with Alzheimer’s to access some very pleasant lyrical and rhythmic musical experiences. Monthly, Grove Park will offer an expressive arts program which will blend music therapy with creative arts.

 

2010 – $10,000 – The Toronto Western Hospital – Dr. Andres Lozano (Toronto)

Your donation helped support the research work of Dr Andres Lozano who is conducting a study of the relationship of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and memory activation in patients with Alzheimer’s and other memory loss illnesses. To date, the findings of the study are very promising, hopefully leading to new treatments and therapies for Alzheimer’s patients.

 

2009 – $30,000 – The Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund (Toronto)

Your donation served as seed funding to establish and support Music Therapy initiatives for seniors with Alzheimer’s, particularly in low-income areas of the city. To date, three programmes have started including one at The Hellenic Centre where Music Therapy is provided in Greek.

 

2008 – $15,000 – Winston Park Nursing Home (Kitchener)

Your donation helped support the outstanding work of this nursing home which provides a continuum of care so that residents are not required to uproot and access a new facility. As well, they have a Special Care Unit that has an indoor circular wandering path, a main lounge, an activity/music room and a palliative care room, specifically designed for residents with dementia.

 

2007 – $10,000 – Dorothy Macham Home – Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Toronto)

Your donation helped support a progressive model of care for Veterans. Because people with dementia often think of the past, many Veterans are likely to exhibit aggressive behaviours that they employed in the war. Consequently, the physical plan is laid out to allow for minimal incidental interactions among the ten residents.

 

2006 – $15,000 – Providence Healthcare (Toronto)

Your donation supported the work of the Adult Day Programme (ADP) for people with dementia, which is nationally recognized and provides a lifeline for caregivers who often experience a tremendous sense of isolation. It offers caregivers information and support while the family member with Alzheimer’s can attend the day, evening or overnight service.

 

2005 – $15,000 – Dr. Vladimir Hachinski – University of Western Ontario (London)

Your donation supported the fascinating research of Dr. Hachinski, which involves studies in the relationship between the occurrence of a stroke and the onset of Alzheimer’s. With the use of animal models, they have observed, that subsequent to a stroke, levels of protein amyloid increase and cause inflammation and damage which may contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s.

 

2004 – $15,000 – Belmont House (Toronto)

Your donation provided the funding to hire a Music Therapist to work with individuals and groups with Alzheimer’s on an ongoing and intensive basis. This intervention strategy was highly successful as music is often still accessible after words are not available.

 

 2003 – $10,000 Alzheimer’s Society of Metropolitan Toronto

Your donation helped to support families and individuals who are affected by Alzheimer’s, to develop skills in health care workers and to make the public more aware of dementia and its symptoms.

MONEY RAISED FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH

260,000$