Meet the Londoners working to make a meaningful difference in our community
Marjie Macoun, Franchise Owner, Boston Pizza London & Sarnia
Passion: Merrymount Family Support and Crisis Centre
“Nine years ago, a staff member at Boston Pizza asked if we might consider giving a portion of our annual golf tournament proceeds to Merrymount. We chose to give Merrymount all the proceeds and have continued to do that. This coming August will be our tenth year supporting Merrymount, and to date we have raised just over $100,000.
Six years ago, the executive director at the time took me on a tour of Merrymount. Her passion was contagious, and shortly after that I joined the board. In addition to my board role and our golf tournament, I love to spread the word about the many services that Merrymount provides to children and families in London and area.
Merrymount has been around for over 140 years and serves over 8,000 families each year who are facing difficulty or are in transition. My personal concern is the Crisis Residential/Respite Program, which provides overnight temporary care for children in a safe and positive environment. These beds are filled each and every night. Of the 18 beds, only four are government funded and the remaining require financial support from our community. You can imagine the cost of keeping these beds available.
When we moved to London about 25 years ago, volunteering in my children’s school gave me an opportunity to get to know people. That volunteer role transitioned to non-profit organizations, such as the United Way, London Health Sciences Foundation, St Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, following in the footsteps of my husband, Jeff, who really set the bar when it came to community involvement. For every organization that I am associated with, I gain a greater understanding of the needs of Londoners as well as the services that are available.
Volunteering has made me feel very connected to my community, and I’ve made many great friendships along the way. It’s an old cliché but very true that you get so much more than you give when you give some time, treasure and talent to your community.”
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