Welcome to the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation

Lotte Irene Loew and John Rolf Hecht arrived in Canada from Germany and Austria around the time of the Second World War. They met in Winnipeg and were married in Vancouver. With their combined savings they purchased a sawmill on Mitchell Island. They discovered a niche market unfulfilled by the larger sawmills -- custom cutting -- and operated the mill 24 hours per day, taking turns supervising. They found uses for all the byproducts of the milling, establishing Associated Fuels to sell the sawdust and making presto logs out of other waste products. Surplus funds were reinvested, and the first real estate investment was acquired: the 525 Seymour building which housed their flagship company, Equitable Real Estate Investment Corporation Limited. Over time, residential and more office buildings were acquired, creating one of the largest privately held real estate investment companies in Western Canada.

The Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation was established in 1962 as The 1945 Foundation with the proceeds of the sale of shares of one of their companies. The Foundation was directed towards economic education and assisting those in need.

During the Hechts' lifetimes, the Foundation quietly supported many charitable groups in Vancouver. The residual of both their estates was gifted to the Foundation.