When Jeffrey Brumer was introduced by a friend to a local charity, Brumer knew he’d found a cause he could commit to for a long time.
For 12 years, Brumer, director of wealth management at Richardson GMP Ltd. in Montreal, has volunteered as a board member of Share the Warmth in that city. Brumer is part of a team called the Brumer Fenerdjian Wealth Management Group. He’s worked with Richardson GMP and one of its predecessors, Richardson Partners Financial Ltd., for the past seven years.
Outside of work, Brumer spends between 20 and 30 hours per month volunteering with young people who lack access to such basics as food and school support. Brumer has been chairman of Share the Warmth for three years and previously held the post of secretary for the charity.
It was the charity’s commitment to children and their families, regardless of their background or beliefs, that drew Brumer’s interest. “I was impressed with the non-denominational aspect of the charity itself,” Brumer says, “[and] what its vision was – feeding the hungry and nursing the mind.”
Share the Warmth, founded in 1989, is dedicated to overcoming hunger and poverty among youth by providing food and school supplies as well as access to resources such as youth groups, tutoring, scholarships and music. The charity has nine full-time employees; 30 to 60 people volunteer each week. And while 80% of Share the Warmth’s programs are geared toward youth, the charity also provides food baskets to families.
In addition to Brumer’s role as chairman, he sits on four committees: the Table for Hope fundraising event, the annual golf tournament fundraiser, the building committee and a general fundraising committee. These committees help to support the charity’s many programs. The building committee oversees the renovation of a recently purchased heritage church that houses the quickly expanding charity.
The Table for Hope fundraiser is a large annual gala event, at which 45 to 50 of Montreal’s top restaurants prepare food with the participation of radio and television personalities, who act as sous-chefs. About 700 people attended last year, Brumer says; this year, the goal is to attract 1,000 guests.
All of the proceeds from this event support Share the Warmth’s food programs, which include feeding approximately 2,000 children a week in 28 schools across the Island of Montreal and another program that distributes 400 food baskets to families in need each month.
The annual golf tournament helps to raise funds for Share the Warmth’s youth programs, which includes a scholarship program. Currently, 45 students are enrolled in the program, which provides each child with $2,500 over a five-year period provided they meet academic standards.
Dedicating so much time and energy to charitable causes is not something Brumer would have done earlier in life. A personal tragedy many years ago caused Brumer to re-evaluate his life and decide to focus on more than his career.
Almost three decades ago, Brumer and his wife lost their six-year-old daughter to a rare blood disease. At the time, Brumer says, he was working long hours. The loss put things into perspective for Brumer: “I said that, from that point on, my life is going to change. I changed my whole lifestyle.”
Despite the terrible loss, Brumer is grateful for his current family life. “We have two wonderful boys and couldn’t be happier,” he says. “My wife and I are very lucky.”
Since making the decision to alter his lifestyle and volunteer for Share the Warmth, Brumer has seen how just a little support can change someone’s life. About five years ago, Brumer met a young man named Ben. When Ben first came to Share the Warmth, Brumer says, the young man had dropped out of school and was ready to give up on everything – even his life.
But, through one of Share the Warmth’s music programs, Ben was introduced to classical guitar. Six months after starting to learn to play the instrument, says Brumer, Ben was back in school. Recently, Ben, a former dropout, was accepted into a high-school level music program.
“He’s turned his whole life around,” Brumer says. “When you see something like that, it makes it all worthwhile.”
Music is a big part of Share the Warmth’s programs. Three years ago, the charity started a choir made up of students from two French-speaking schools and one English-speaking school. The children perform concerts, which are gaining in popularity, in both languages.
“The first concert we ever held was three years ago,” Brumer says. “I don’t think we had 20 people. Last year, we had 150 people. And this year, we didn’t have enough room. God knows what we’re going to do [for the next one] in the spring!”
Brumer’s efforts get support from his advisory team, which, for the past three years, has sponsored a youth Christmas dinner for roughly 150 children. As part of that event, a local chef prepares a turkey dinner and later dresses up as Santa to hand out a gift to each child. Brumer and his team attend, making sure everything goes smoothly and the kids are having a good time.
“We go and we volunteer,” he says. “We serve [and] we sit with the kids.”
While Brumer intends to continue working as a board member for the charity, he probably will step aside as chairman soon.
“There are some really wonderful people on our board from all different walks of life,” he says. “And you have to give people a chance to progress.”
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