This is an article by Angela Pacienza – Canadian Press:
TORONTO — B.C.’s famous music impresario, David Foster, is the man behind Chicago’s Hard To Say I’m Sorry and the St. Elmo’s Fire hit, Man In Motion. As a writer and producer, he has worked with the likes of Céline Dion, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton.
But the Victoria-born Foster donned his humanitarian hat yesterday to announce that after 20 years of helping B.C. families with children who need organ transplants, his foundation is going national.
The composer and producer said he hopes the foundation — rather than his musical successes — will become his greatest legacy.
“I just think 50 years from now . . . the music will fade, probably. I’m not Mozart,” he said in an interview. “But if we build an endowment and the foundation is still going 50 or 100 years from now because of the groundwork we laid, that’s pretty impressive.”
Established in 1986, the David Foster Foundation helps fund non-medical needs of families who have a child undergoing an organ transplant. It helps families stay financially afloat when parents take time off work, covering things like transportation, mortgage payments and even meals.
To date, the foundation has helped more than 250 families.
Mr. Foster started the foundation after visiting a four-year-old Victoria girl who was getting treatment in Los Angeles, where he lives. The girl, who didn’t survive, told him her biggest wish was to see her sister — who was stuck back home.
“I realized that for the price of an airline ticket, which back then was $60, I could make this young four-year-old’s greatest wish come true,” recalled Mr. Foster.
The first event to raise money for the expanded foundation will be a gala concert in September in Niagara Falls. It will be headlined by Mr. Bocelli, whose most recent album Amore was produced by Mr. Foster.
Fundraising events are also being planned for Nova Scotia and possibly Alberta, Mr. Foster told reporters yesterday in Toronto.