Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, left, with Leslie and Gordon Diamond. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)<\/i><\/p>\n
To recognize their exceptional leadership and philanthropic impact in Vancouver and across the nation, Vancouver City Council unanimously agreed to bestow the Freedom of the City upon Leslie and Gordon Diamond. They were awarded the honour on Dec.12, 2023, and the award presentation was held Oct. 29, 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeslie and Gordon have devoted their lives to the people of Vancouver,\u201d said Mayor Ken Sim. \u201cTheir remarkable work in health care, affordable housing, community services and beyond has made a lasting impact, shaping not only our city\u2019s history but also its future.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Order of British Columbia, Gordon Diamond founded the Diamond Foundation in 1984. Leslie, who is also a recipient of the Order of British Columbia, has worked alongside Gordon in driving initiatives that support affordable housing, social and seniors\u2019 services, community development, education and health care.<\/p>\n
The Diamonds\u2019 philanthropic vision has catalyzed critical initiatives addressing health and substance use. Their contributions include landmark donations of $20 million each to Vancouver General Hospital\u2019s Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre and to the St. Paul Foundation\u2019s Road to Recovery substance use disorder initiative.<\/p>\n
As champions for the arts, the Diamonds have enabled countless underprivileged youth to access and enjoy the cultural fabric of the city. Their substantial support for the new Vancouver Art Gallery stands as a testament to their vision for arts accessibility and patronage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are truly honoured to be recognized by the city we love,\u201d said Leslie and Gordon Diamond. \u201cTo receive an award for doing what we love doing is humbling. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 City of Vancouver<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, left, with Leslie and Gordon Diamond. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver) To recognize their exceptional leadership and philanthropic impact in Vancouver and across the nation, Vancouver City Council unanimously agreed to bestow the Freedom of the City upon Leslie and Gordon Diamond. They were awarded the honour on Dec.12, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23758,20593,7030,6977,21800,7031,2763,1742],"class_list":["post-45720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-freedom-of-the-city","tag-gordon-diamond","tag-healthcare","tag-ken-sim","tag-leslie-diamond","tag-philanthropy","tag-vancouver"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}