
When Jim Braddon joined United Way as the McCormick Canada Sponsored Employee in 1998, he brought a huge amount of energy and commitment to the role. He was a larger than life character who believed passionately in helping others and inspired all those around him to do more than they thought possible. His work helped to grow and strengthen the United Way Campaign that year, and for many years to come.
Jim was a “once-in-a-lifetime” Sponsored Employee. Except, of course, he was not just “once-in-a-lifetime” because he chose to come back as a Sponsored Employee every single year until 2013! Right up to the COVID-19 lock down in 2020, he was still volunteering at United Way events and showing up at our offices to check we were doing things properly.
Jim brought his hard work, dedication and, above all, his sense of humour to every Campaign and every task. He cultivated his “grumpy guy” persona but loved nothing more than to surprise people and make them laugh. He was always right there with a one-liner, to remind us all not to take ourselves too seriously, and he was also right there with a helping hand and true generosity. He understood hardship and his deep empathy shone through in everything he did.
Jim was at home in any environment and befriended everyone, from CEOs to front desk staff, wherever he went. Over the years, he took countless people under his wing as a friend and mentor. His dedication to United Way, the Optimists, the Kidney Foundation, and many other causes helped make our community a better place and directly helped hundreds of people over the years.
Jim will be sorely missed by everyone who was lucky enough to know him and his loss will be deeply felt across our community.
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