Published: November 2025
Published: November 2025
On Giving Tuesday, Tom Moore is TRIPLING all donations — up to a total of $200,000!
For Tom Moore, a retired tech executive and longtime Ottawa resident, giving back to The Ottawa Hospital isn’t just a gesture of generosity. It’s personal.
“There was always hope at The Ottawa Hospital. The facilities and the expertise available are unmatched.”
Tom grew up on a horse ranch near Pembroke, where his family raised American Quarter Horses. “Growing up in a rural area, Ottawa was the closest ‘big’ hospital, where you could get the same care as the city folks,” he says. “There was always hope at The Ottawa Hospital. The facilities and the expertise available are unmatched.”
Tom’s journey has taken him from rodeo arenas to Silicon Valley boardrooms. After studying Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, he spent a decade at Bell-Northern Research and NorTel before launching his own consulting firm. He later led U.S. west-coast operations for Ottawa-based ObjecTime in California and helped found GridIron Networks when he returned to Ottawa.
Since he retired 16 years ago, his commitment to community has only grown stronger, and has seen him support the Ottawa Food Bank, Cornerstone Housing for Women, Hospice Care Ottawa, CHEO, and The Ottawa Hospital.
That hope Tom saw through the work on the hospital became deeply personal over the years: Tom had his appendix removed at the Civic Campus in 1977. His father was a patient at the Heart Institute. His mother underwent ankle surgery at the General Campus. And in 2019, Tom’s husband and partner of nearly 30 years, Jacques Pelletier, passed away after a brief and devastating battle with pancreatic cancer.
“The most difficult thing I went through was losing my partner,” Tom shares. “He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and he died eight weeks after diagnosis.”
These experiences, spanning decades, shaped Tom’s understanding of what compassionate care truly means. And that reflection led to action.
Tom has supported The Ottawa Hospital for years, honouring his parents and honouring Jacques. After Jacques’s passing, he became especially passionate about advancing pancreatic cancer research. He knows how little time this disease gives families and how urgently new treatments are needed. His support of research at The Ottawa Hospital is helping to fuel discoveries that could offer more time, more hope, and better outcomes for others facing this disease.
Now, this Giving Tuesday, Tom has stepped forward with a matching gift and will be tripling donations on December 2, 2025 up to a total of $200,000. He hopes this opportunity will inspire others to support the hospital that has touched his life in profound ways.
“I’ve learned over the last few years, seems the more I give, the more I get.”
“I’ve learned over the last few years, seems the more I give, the more I get,” Tom says. “I enjoy it. It makes me feel great, to be giving back in some small way.”
His Giving Tuesday matching gift is a call to action — a chance for others to join him in supporting The Campaign to Create Tomorrow, which is building a new, state-of-the-art hospital campus and elevating lifesaving research to new heights. “It’s just a matter of time until you or someone in your family needs it, needs that excellence, and that’s when you’ll truly appreciate it.”
For Tom, giving is also about honouring the moments that remind us of what matters most. “In the darkest moments, when you’re in the waiting room at the hospital, when you know someone’s in surgery, that’s when you have a sense that life is short. You realize there’s a greater good, and we have a responsibility to give back if we can.”
To join Tom in supporting The Ottawa Hospital this Giving Tuesday — and to triple your impact through his generosity.
