QUALITY TIME
to one in philanthropy as
development officer of gift and
estate planning at SickKids
Foundation. And when his
family members invited him
to join their cycling group, he
agreed to revive an old hobby
for a greater cause.
As the group began par-
ticipating in Ride to Conquer
Cancer fundraisers together,
cycling became an extraordi-
nary outlet for their grief. "In
many ways, it saved me after
the death of my first child,"
says Berry.
Nineteen years later,
Berry's hobby has morphed
into an intense passion for
mountain biking. "Honestly,
I don't know why everybody
wouldn't want to be on a
mountain bike and just get up
there," he says. But how his
Malcolm Berry became
the president and
CEO of BC
Children's Hospital Foundation
(BCCHF)
in 2021, but his fund-
raising career can be traced
back to the day he walked out
of a children's hospital without
his child.
In 2005, Berry's daughter
Paige was born and diagnosed
with a rare blood disease. She
lived most of her seven-month
life at the Hospital for Sick
Children (SickKids) in Toronto,
where she won the battle
against the disease, but lost the
one against chemotherapy.
"We learned a whole
bunch of things through that
experience, but I think it gave
us a context for the magic
that our children's hospitals
come with," says Toronto-
born Berry. "There are only a
handful of places in the world
that [Paige could have received
care at]—SickKids being one of
them; BC Children's could've
been another."
Shortly after Paige passed
away, Berry slowly transitioned
from a career in teaching
LIFE CYCLE
BC Children's Hospital Foundation CEO
Malcolm Berry rides to clear his mind
by Rushmila Rahman
W E E K E N D W A R R I O R
BC Children's Hospital
Foundation has been
championing children's
health since 1982. It
supports BC Children's
Hospital with fund-
raising, programming,
research, equipment
purchases and more.
The hospital sees about
140,000 kids a year,
says BCCHF president
and CEO Malcolm Berry,
whose team works to
ensure that the right
people have the right
tools at the right time
to treat every ailment,
from broken arms to
rare diseases.
WARRIOR SPOTLIGHT
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B C B U S I N E S S . C A
J U LY/A U G U S T
2 0 24 J o h n S i n al
JOY RIDE
Mount Fromme trails
like Expresso and
Kirkford are some of
Malcolm Berry's
favourites in B.C.
