Courage to Come Back Awards - CAMH Foundation's flagship fundraising gala

Inspiring recipients share stories of courage and triumph

2007 Courage to Come Back Award Recipients (l-r): Dr. Michael Kaufmann, Tom Regehr, Marie Asuncion, Alyse Schacter, Rita Buffalo and Jeff Wilbee.

The CAMH Foundation’s 14^th annual Courage to Come Back Awards dinner and ceremony, presented by RBC Capital Markets, took place Thursday, May 3 and was attended by more than 850 guests.  The evening raised over $600,000 in support of the redevelopment of CAMH’s Queen Street site. 

Six courageous individuals from across Ontario were honoured for overcoming the challenges of living with addiction and/or mental illness and using their experiences to help others in similar circumstances.  Guests were touched by the incredible stories of perseverance and triumph of Marie Asuncion, Rita Buffalo, Dr. Michael Kaufmann, Tom Regehr, Alyse Schacter, and Jeff Wilbee, and also enjoyed a beautiful performance by Marie playing her harp. 

The evening closed with a speech and special duet by past Courage recipient and singer/songwriter Amy Sky and her husband, singer/songwriter Marc Jordan.  Amy is also a participant in CAMH’s Transforming Lives Public Awareness Campaign.

The Honourable George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long Term Care was also in attendance for the event.  Mr. Smitherman chose to share his own experiences with addiction at the 2006 Courage to Come Back Awards. 

Special thanks go out to our courageous award recipients, generous sponsors and dedicated volunteers.

For more information about the awards, please call Bonnie Perry at 416 535-8501 ext. 4220 or Lidia Franchitto at ext. 6169, or call toll-free 1 800 414-0471.