Toronto REALTOR® Rings in the Year of the Dragon by Raising Funds for Seniors

On February 10^th Winson Chan, a REALTOR®, Vice President, Sales Development at the Tridel Group of Companies and 2023 CREA Regional Director, celebrated Chinese New Year in-style with over 1000 community members and 200 volunteers at the Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation’s 35^th Annual Dragon Ball and raised nearly one million dollars for their programs.

Philanthropy is at the core of what Chan does, and for him, there’s no better cause than Yee Hong, where he’s been volunteering for the past 30 years.

As one of the largest non-profit long-term care providers in Canada, Yee Hong operates 805 long-term care home beds in the Greater Toronto Area along with a wide range of community support services, a hospice residence to Chinese seniors and others of various ethnic backgrounds who often also experience language and cultural barriers.

“For the Asian community, especially for seniors, culturally appropriate care is needed,” Chan says. “To secure good quality seniors care is not as easy as we all want. We all wish we could get enough government funding.”

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The Dragon Ball , one of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations in North America, is renowned as an exquisite culinary experience – including a four-course dinner themed around the new year, featuring ingredients symbolizing good luck and prosperity.

The pre-dinner reception was hosted by Golden Bubble, Gushi Japanese Street Food, Heart Sushi, Hey! I Am Yogost, Omni Foods, Souperwell and Wonton Hut, allowing guests to savour a range of culinary delights. There was wine-tasting on site, run by Johnnie Walker, Mio Sparkling Sake, and the Choya. The midnight buffet featured goodies from Marathon Café, Fuwa Fuwa, Honeymoon Dessert, and Adore Cake.

As the Honourary Co-Chair, Chan not only ensures his company is one of the longstanding major donors for the event, he has also galvanized REALTORS® from the Canada-China Realty Professional Association (CCRPA) to the cause.

The Dragon Ball is one of the community initiatives the CCRPA supports, along with raising money for Yee Hong through other fundraising events such as soccer tournaments, golf tournaments, and the CCRPA Gala.

Two years ago, thanks in part to Chan’s outreach, the CCRPA set an ambitious 1-million-dollar CCRPA Yee Hong Heroes capital campaign to support the Yee Hong Love Gives goal of building three more nursing homes and adding 800 more licensed beds to their support services.

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“At first my target was to raise maybe $100,000 within the Asian REALTOR® community,” Chan says. “So far, over $300,000 has been raised for Yee Hong Foundation [in less than two years], including close to 200 REALTORS® who have engaged through the Heroes program.”

Chan’s two daughters both volunteer at the Dragon Ball and were just little kids when they first started supporting Yee Hong. Eldest daughter Melissa, volunteered for a whole summer at Yee Hong in 2017, receiving a gold award from MPP Shaun Chen for her efforts. Her younger sister, Adora, was inspired to be a nurse because of her volunteer work there.

“It’s important for us to give back,” Chan says. “I am going to be one of them [seniors]. I’m not there yet, but close. It’s important for my daughters to see, as well as that next generation. Through getting involved [young people] understand the social purpose of their life. There’s a better calling, than just having a good career, raising a family. You should be thankful for what you have. “

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Dragon Ball, Winson Chan, the CCRPA, and many more community members, Yee Hong is now celebrating the ground-breaking of their fifth long-term care home – Yee Hong Ng Siu Chan Centre putting them one-step closer to their long-term goals.