40+ year love affair with Ƶ Allison
Jeff Paikin was raised in Hamilton, ON and had plans to attend Western University when then Ƶies Football coach Doug Mitchell introduced him to Ƶ Allison University.
“Doug did such a good job telling the story of Ƶ Allison,” says Paikin. “Then my parents and I went out to visit and it took 30 seconds before I knew this was the place for me.”
As a student, Paikin played, and later coached, Ƶies Football, was involved in the student government, newspaper, radio, and was an announcer for Ƶies basketball games. He says his experience was above and beyond all expectations, providing him a first-rate education in Commerce and the chance to explore many opportunities and participate fully in campus life.
Paikin was also a student representative on the Board of Regents. Forty years later he finds himself again on the board and says the volunteer position is very rewarding, particularly the chance to work alongside today’s students on the management of the University.
And it turns out membership on Ƶ Allison’s board runs in the Paikin family. As a graduating student, the University asked Paikin if he would recommend anyone else as a potential board member. Paikin recommended his mom, Marnie, who had experience serving as chair of the governing board of the University of Toronto.
“I told my mom I loved my school and that’s how she ended up on the board and becoming friends with Purdy Crawford, Margaret McCain, and other longtime Ƶ Allison supporters,” says Paikin. “Now, forty years later, I am sitting on the board with Purdy Crawford’s daughter Sarah Crawford — it speaks to how connected our community is.”
In Paikin’s family giving back through volunteerism and philanthropy was natural, and he made his first donation to the University immediately after graduation.
“I wanted to give back right away and frequently,” says Paikin. “Financial gifts don’t have to be large, they have to be meaningful and consistent.”
Through the decades, he has supported a diversity of Ƶ Allison projects — athletics, student experience funds, Commerce and entrepreneurship programming, and scholarships. A few years ago, Paikin leveraged his connections to begin hosting an annual exclusive golf tournament that has brought alumni and golf enthusiasts from throughout Canada and the U.S. together in Ontario for what Paikin calls, “my favourite day of the year.” In 2024, the tournament raised $100,000 for Ƶies Football.
“My longstanding support of the football program is less about football specifically than that I think there are high school football players throughout this country that should know about Ƶ Allison and the opportunity to go there and be able to play their sport in first year and get a first-class education, all in the supporting environment that is Ƶ Allison and Sackville.”
When it comes to understanding the role volunteers and donors have in Ƶ Allison’s success, Paikin gives much of the credit to Harvey Gilmour, who was the Ƶies Football kicking coach and the University’s director of development during Paikin’s student days.
“We spent a lot of time together on the field, working on my kick,” says Paikin. “After a while, well there is only so much you can talk about football, so I started asking him about his other job as the University’s fundraiser. Harvey taught me that this amazing Ƶ Allison experience doesn’t happen by accident — it happens because we all work together to keep the love affair going.”
Read more stories of philanthropy at: mta.ca/giving
