The Ami Reiss Charitable Foundation:
Honoring a Tradition of Giving

“No man is an island,” the English poet John Donne famously wrote. It is a sentiment passed down through the ages, one that has inspired charity across generations.
Donne’s idea borrowed from a rich tradition. His contemporary Francis Bacon put quill pen to parchment to contend, “If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them.”

This impulse to lift up the community inspires the work of the Ami Reiss Charitable Foundation as well. In Montreal and across Quebec, a wide range of philanthropic organizations are benefiting from the active support and involvement of Ami Reiss, the founder of Reiss Management, a firm dedicated to discovering, developing and managing exceptional apartments for tenants in Montreal, Laval and throughout the metropolitan area.

Ami Reiss focuses his attention on six pillars of philanthropy: schools, medical organizations, synagogues, federations, food banks and special needs organizations.

“I am involved in mankind,” Donne added to his graceful poem for emphasis. Truly, this is the foundation of all charity — a deep respect for community, a passion for lifting up those in need, the imperative to improve the world around us.

For a community leader who deals with property and people on a daily basis, the importance of philanthropy is clear. Ami Reiss knows the community, sees the hardships, and has learned throughout this professional career how to efficiently target resources to effectively address social issues.

He knows that education and faith provide strong support to

individuals and families, giving people the skills and inspiration to rise from their circumstances. He knows that food and medicine are basic rights for all people, or should be. No one in Canada should ever go hungry, or lack the medicine and care they need, he believes. And Ami Reiss knows that some children need a higher level of assistance and attention, which is why special needs charities are so important to his Foundation.