Malcolm Hunter: A Journey to Bring Hope

It was his love for the open road which first drew Malcolm Hunter’s attention to Fighting Blindness Canada.

As the President of what was then Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada, the largest Harley-Davidson distributor in Canada, he wanted to support a fellow motorcycle enthusiast who was holding a fundraiser for FBC (then Foundation Fighting Blindness) in memory of a brother who had passed away, and who had retinitis pigmentosa.

“That’s the first time I got involved,” he says. He joined other riders at the bottom of Yonge St. in Toronto, and they rode all the way up, with a police escort, to Gravenhurst, ON. But his involvement didn’t end there.

FBC approached him to see if he was interested in further supporting Ride for Sight fundraising events through his dealership network in Canada. Though Malcolm had no personal connection to blindness, he knew it was an important cause.

“Eyesight to me is about the seeing the world,” he says, and he wanted to do what he could to support others to fully participate in the visual world.

Malcolm’s enthusiastic support for FBC fundraising events eventually led him to take a position on the board. At the time, the board was small, and made up mainly of people who had, or knew someone who had, a blinding eye disease. Malcolm brought his considerable business experience.

Being based in the west coast, he also brought a national perspective to FBC. “Fighting Blindness Canada has always been based in Toronto, so I brought a more of a national representation,” he says.

The organization changed a lot since Malcolm first got involved with it in 1995.

“The organization became more sophisticated, more focused, more structured and more accountable,” he says. It also expanded its mandate.

This was partly because it became obvious that there were many different eye diseases that needed FBC’s support. And researchers came to FBC with interesting projects that explored other eye diseases. “It was a push-pull.”

Malcolm served on FBC’s board of directors for 20 years and has continued to be a generous donor, contributing over the years not only to Ride for Sight, but also to Eye on the Cure, Comic Vision, and Cycle for Sight.

He thinks of FBC as being on a journey.

“The end of the journey is to eliminate all eye disease that affects vision.”

He’s excited for the road ahead for FBC on this journey, and the new five-year strategy the organization will soon be releasing.

And though Malcolm, who was the President and Owner of Fred Deeley Limited, has sold his business and is focused on spending more time with his grandchildren and, occasionally, on the open road, his journey with FBC isn’t over. Most recently, he sponsored FBC’s Accelerate Vision Health Series.

“It’s always great to be part of and participate in an organization that knows where it’s growing and has a great track record.”