If belief in the product is key to a persuasive sales pitch, you know why Bob Hamilton is one of the best fund-raisers in the province.

Most recently, the Calgary-based vice-president of Royal Bank Financial Group has been selling the health of future generations of Alberta children.

Many of Hamilton’s targets produce cheques after only a token arm-twist.

Others require a more concerted effort, which he’s happy to apply – usually with the desired results.

Photo courtesy of Peter Llewellyn
Fund-raiser Bob Hamilton and his wife Julie, featured in the book Private Smiles, have worked through tremendous adversity to raise awareness of the battle against childhood cancer.

For motivation, Hamilton simply glances at his daughter, Marguerite.

She underwent two operations for brain cancer, and stood up to the subsequent barrage of chemo and radiation therapy.

Another impetus is the memory of the roommates who laughed and clowned with Maggie at cancer camp, and in the cancer unit of the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

They’re the ones who fought valiantly beside her, but who were finally unable to defeat the disease which attacked them so viciously.

Hamilton sits on the boards of both the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation (ACHF) and the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta (KCCFA). He serves as a liaison between the organizations, which share similar goals. They include the elimination – some how, some way – of childhood cancer.

Hamilton has become a local legend for his pursuit of the ACHF objective: to drum up enough cash to create treatment and research enhancements – including a centre of excellence for oncology, bone-marrow transplants and hematology – within the new $250 million ACH, to be built in northwest Calgary.

Hamilton is as persistent as Sisyphus and, intermittently, as deaf as a post.

A sudden attack of hearing loss strikes when a prospective donor starts to whimper: “I gave at the office,” or otherwise tries to sidestep the issue.

But when Hamilton IDs a likely prospect, he descends on the target like fog.

“You’ve got to know where the money is, and how to approach it. Tell them what you want, and don’t be afraid to ask for a big chunk of dough,” said the ex-Canadian Football League player.

In the words of Chris Wandzura, executive director of KCCFA, Bob Hamilton is a “door-opener extraordinaire.”

And most people he telephones realize he and Julie have been grimly standing their ground for four years, while life has rained successive blows on the family.

It began with horrific medical news, delivered in November 1997, when 15-year-old Maggie was diagnosed with cancer.

For Bob and his family, the next 14 months passed in a surrealistic blur. It retreated only when Maggie’s illness fled into remission.

But the resulting euphoria was brutally short-lived. In July 1999, Maggie’s brother Tim was killed at age 19 in an accident at work.

Once she was able to peel herself from the floor, Bob’s wife, Julie, embarked on a one-woman crusade on behalf of Alberta workplace safety.

Her crusade continues.

Julie is frankly horrified by high on-the-job mortality rates in Alberta, particularly those affecting people younger than 24.

Her stock speech is titled: “Don’t Let Your Work Ethic Kill You.”

While speaking to youngsters, Julie says she tries “to get them to identify with Tim. He was a bright, happy, eager, successful, fun-loving kid who had hopes and dreams just like theirs . . .”

She hammers at employers, insisting they re-evaluate safety standards.

She urges young workers to take control of their own destiny.

“You have got to take responsibility for not trusting your boss to always think of your safety. YOU have to make sure,” Julie tells them.

Since her story appeared in Business Edge last summer, she has received calls from Shell Canada, ATCO and Petro-Canada. Each has invited her to speak to senior and middle managers, as well as staff.

Meanwhile, Maggie became the family’s third committed volunteer when she became a spokesperson for KCCFA.

Her speeches were the stuff of legend. And her fund-raising prowess threatened to surpass that of her dad.

At The Country Club of the Hamptons, the foundation raised more than $300,000 during a function at which Maggie spoke about the terror of diagnosis.

Though they’ll never stop mourning Tim, the Hamiltons maintain perspective by cherishing occasional incandescent moments which have buoyed them along the way.

Moments such as a Calgary Stampeders’ fund-raiser, when a hairless (from chemo), confident and beautiful young guest speaker told her listeners she was seeking a boyfriend.

“Any takers?” asked the KCCFA poster girl. And Vince Danielsen, the Stampeders’ star receiver, bounced to his feet.

“Made Maggie feel like a million bucks,” Julie Hamilton laughed.

This column is adapted from Private Smiles: A Tribute to Calgary’s Volunteers, by Tom Keyser and Jean Llewellyn.

Web Watch:
www.emmi.ca