| John Volken | |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Occupation: | Businessman, Philanthropist |
| Organization: | The John Volken Foundation |
John Volken (born December 18, 1941)[1] is a German-Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was the former CEO of United Furniture Warehouse and current founder The John Volken Foundation, which funds several nonprofit enterprises, including John Volken Addiction Recovery Academy, PricePro, and Lift The Children. In 1995, Volken received the Canada's Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the year award for his achievements with United Furniture Warehouse[2]
John Volken was born in 1941 in Potsdam, a city that soon thereafter became part of communist East Germany. His father, a medical doctor, died near the end of the Second World War when John was only three years old. Due to her poor health, John's mother was forced to put John in an orphanage for a short while. At 14, he went from East Germany to West Germany as a refugee and started working during the day and going to school at night. In 1960, John Volken emigrated to Canada with very little money, but much enthusiasm for his new life in his new country. John started out as a farm labourer, dishwasher, and construction worker. When he became comfortable with the English language, he turned to sales. After several moves during his restless years, managing and developing various businesses, John settled in Vancouver. In 1981, he started United Furniture Warehouse and built it from one small store into one of the largest furniture retail chains in North America, with over 150 locations.[3]
For his business accomplishments, John was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year for Canada's Pacific Region in 1995. In 2004, having achieved financial success, John sold his furniture business to follow his heart and become a full time social entrepreneur. He transferred all the proceeds and assets of the business into charitable foundations in Canada and the US, at a combined value of over $150 million, with the sole purpose of helping those in need.
At this time, John traveled to Africa with the goal of helping that continent's destitute children. After seeing first-hand the terrible plight of so many orphans, John formed Lift the Children, a registered charitable organization whose mission is to help the most destitute by providing them with food, housing, and education- with the ultimate goal that they become fully self-sufficient. Currently, Lift the Children sponsors over 70 orphanages.
Back home, John researched areas of social neglect where he could make a lasting difference in North America. The result was the founding of the John Volken Academy- a long term residential drug and alcohol addiction recovery program for young men and women. The program is free of charge to those who are committed to change their lives and helps students advance their education and develop the life-skills needed to stay sober and become contributing members of society. The academy currently has campuses in British Columbia, Arizona, and Washington. John Volken received the Dalai Lama Humanitarian Award in 2015 for effectively changing lives.