Halifax, N.S. (November 25, 2025) – The IWK Foundation celebrates a $500,000 gift through Scotiabank’s ScotiaRISE community investment initiative to provide financial and wrap-around programming for IWK patients and families in need.
This generous donation to the IWK’s social work department will fund support that helps remove financial and social barriers for families including accommodation and transportation resources, assistance with medication and equipment costs, health and wellness education and food security initiatives.
Through ScotiaRISE, we are proud to support programs that help meet basic needs and remove barriers for parents who are caring for a sick child,” says Nicola Ray Smith, Senior Vice President, Atlantic Region, Scotiabank. “Our partnership with the IWK Foundation helps ensure that families can access the healthcare resources they need to support the well-being of their children.”
In addition to food insecurity affecting one in five Nova Scotians, transient food insecurity can be caused by caregivers being unable to work while caring for their child in the IWK. This investment will help the IWK provide accessible, nutritious meal options to families.
“As the IWK often says, food is medicine and supporting caregivers as they care for their children is a vital part of their care journey,” says Nancy Cashen, Director, Interprofessional Practice and Learning, IWK Health. “This gift is helping to foster a thoughtful inclusive process to ensure inpatient families have access to nutritious meals, so they can focus on what truly matters – their child.”
The IWK Social Work Team is integral to delivering compassionate, holistic care that addresses not only physical health needs, but also the emotional, social, and psychological needs of our patients and families.
“The challenges faced by families navigating a child’s serious illness, hospitalization, or mental health challenge is often invisible yet deeply felt,” says Michael Earle, Professional Practice Leader, Social Work, IWK. “Behind each request for support is a story of resilience in the face of adversity – of parents skipping meals to afford medication to families making impossible choices between rent, food, and their child’s care.”
Since receiving this generous donation from Scotiabank, the IWK has been able to support an incredible 462 requests for support, for a total of 296 families as of September 30, 2025.
Scotiabank has been supporting the IWK since 1987 and since that time has donated over $2 million to help improve patient care for Maritime women, children and youth. “We are extremely grateful for our long-term partnership with Scotiabank as they are truly part of the fabric of the IWK,” says Jennifer Gillivan, President & CEO, IWK Foundation. “We know that families are struggling, and this collective support shows them that they are not alone – that there is a community behind them, ensuring they have access to the best possible care.”
Through the generous support of Scotiabank, the IWK has been able to meet families with compassion and concrete assistance when they need it most. This funding has not only filled immediate gaps in food, transportation, and medication, but has helped restore dignity, reduce stress, and create space for families to focus on what matters most: health and healing.
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About the IWK Foundation
The IWK Foundation is a champion of excellence in women and children’s healthcare and research and mental health and addictions for children and youth. The IWK Foundation is the primary fundraising organization for IWK Health, working in partnership with IWK Health to support their vision of providing quality care to women, children, youth and families in our community. The IWK is a national co-owner and partner of Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations and a member of the national Women’s Health Collective Canada. Visit www.iwkfoundation.org for more information.
About ScotiaRISE
ScotiaRISE is Scotiabank's $500 million commitment and community investment initiative designed to help people in three focus areas: improving high school and post-secondary participation, removing career barriers, and supporting newcomer economic inclusion. ScotiaRISE also invests in programs that address reclamation of Indigenous language and culture as well as urgent and basic needs, such as improving access to basic supports like food and water, shelter and medical care. Since its launch in 2021, ScotiaRISE has invested over $150 million and partnered with over 300 organizations worldwide to provide the tools people need to reach their full potential.
Media Contact:
Lesley Gaum
IWK Foundation
lesley.gaum@iwkfoundation.org