Bruce Nicol is a fascinating guy. He’s the kind of guy who, when you sit down for a beer with him, you sense could tell you stories all evening. Each one more interesting than the last. He once purchased a house with an unusually large yard, thanks to its position between two street corners. He started a garden and before long neighbours came by to see what was happening. A year later, the garden had become a co-op, where the neighbourhood pitched in to keep it going, tend to it, and reap the vegetable-shaped rewards at the end of the growing season.
He recently got murdered in a movie shot near Ottawa, a project he joined on a whim after he was asked by another neighbour. And this isn’t the first time Bruce has appeared in a movie on a whim after a friend mentioned it in passing! His current project is not yet out, but about a decade ago he starred in a short film that won Canadian Short Film of the Year at Charlottetown in 2008. This is the trailer, and that’s Bruce who’s getting sick and tired of old Charlie continuing to die over and over.
Bruce runs Tartan Homes, a business he took over from his dad Wesley. He has also taken over his dad’s foundation, the Wesley M Nicol foundation. With his three siblings, Bruce decides where the annual funds will be placed. And with this comes a bit of a dilemma. To be anonymous, or not to be anonymous?
Many foundations like to donate their funds anonymously. This allows them to operate as small enterprises, removing the need to pay their executive a salary among other things. However, it also means that their philanthropy exists in sort of a vacuum. Bruce explains,
“I was at one of these gala things, for the Wabano Centre. I had already committed to donating $25,000 toward the purchase of a house next to the centre, a great place to hold youth programming. When the CEO got up to make her speech, she announced the donation from the Wesley M Nicol foundation, and the spotlight lit up directly on me. I stood up and acknowledged that yes, I had committed the foundation to providing the money. She then turned to the crowd and challenged them to, before the end of the gala, match the Wesley M Nicol donation. Just a few minutes later, she was back at the podium announcing that they HAD.”
Bruce seems flabbergasted that this gambit actually worked, but he now understands a little more than he did previously. A major donation from a foundation like his family’s carries some weight. And when funding like that gets announced, it sends a message to everyone else – we at the Wesley M Nicol foundation have done our research. We have looked into the books of this charity. We know exactly where our money is going to go, and how it will be spent. We have determined that this is a good investment, and therefore you can feel good about making one as well.
That said, more than half of the foundation gifts remain anonymous. It’s only when the donation they make serves as an invitation to others to get on board that they put their name out there. Fortunately for us, their support for the John Bosco Achievement Centre is the latter type of investment, and we can tell the world about the good they’re doing for youth seeking an education.
Bruce, a former board member at Operation Come Home, isn’t sure about using the word ‘disadvantaged’. Is that the correct term, is it too harsh? Really though I think it comes from his ability to acknowledge his own privilege. He recognizes that growing up in a good neighbourhood is an advantage. And that obtaining a higher education is an advantage. So is having food always on the table, a stable home life and mental health, and great role models.
Bruce had two great male role models. One was the late David Scott, a longtime Operation Come Home board member, supporter, and funder who sadly passed earlier this year. David was the person who got Bruce involved with OCH in the first place. The other role model was Wesley, his father.
Wesley was always very serious about helping the disadvantaged by providing them with access to advantages. He was a big proponent of education, the kind of guy who believed as strongly in a general arts degree as he did a law degree. Learning was important in every way, whether that be mastering calculus, learning another language, or discovering a passion for reading volumes of poetry.
That’s why the Wesley Nicol Foundation, in carrying on his legacy, focuses so much of their philanthropy toward youth, education, and youth programming. It’s where Wesley wanted his money to go, and that is exactly where it is going whether it be at the Wabano Centre or Operation Come Home’s John Bosco Achievement Centre. Or, as it happens, at both.
We’re fortunate and grateful in so many ways and to so many people. For David Scott, who brought Bruce into the OCH fold. For Wesley Nicol, who had a passion for helping disadvantaged youth succeed through education. And most of all for Bruce and his partner Karen Sutherland who is now a social worker at the OCH drop-in. She comes in every Friday to speak with our youth, connect with them, and provide support, resources, advice and a sympathetic ear.
Bruce connects Operation Come Home to some terrific people, and it took some exemplary people to connect him to us. In everything he does he remains true to his values, focused on success, and committed to enjoying himself. He really does like popping up in movies every now and then, attending choir practice, and going over the books of a charity with a fine-toothed comb to ensure they are an organization he wants to support. And he very much enjoys seeing the fruits of his labours. Whether that be a student graduating from the John Bosco Achievement Centre, or a red pepper plucked from his co-op garden. Both those things happen because Bruce’s involvement inspires others to get involved.