Getty Images/iStockphoto
The donor: Malcolm MacKillop
The gift: Creating LIFE, the Lawyers' International Food Enterprise
The reason: To fund health and education programs in Africa
Malcolm MacKillop was orphaned as a child and grew up in an adoptive family, so he has always been touched by stories of children suffering.
"I have a very big soft spot for kids and what they go through," said Mr. MacKillop, of the Toronto law firm Shields O'Donnell MacKillop.
In 2009, he launched the Lawyers' International Food Enterprise, or LIFE, together with another Toronto lawyer, Jonathan Lisus of the firm Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb. LIFE raises money from the Ontario legal community to support health and education programs for children in Africa. All the donations go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation and World Vision to support their Africa programs. So far the group has raised $447,000, mainly through an annual event called Rock for Life, which features bands made up of lawyers.
Mr. MacKillop, 58, gives full credit to the many lawyers across the province who have donated to LIFE. Several have also joined him on trips to Africa, and he's planning to go to Tanzania in November to visit a family he has been supporting. "It's upsetting for the most part," he said of seeing the living conditions. "I'm not a rich guy. If I had money, I could do a whole lot more."
Paul Waldie