TD Bank Financial Group provides three-year $75,000 commitment to MOA

 

 

 

For the past two years, TD Bank Financial Group has supported the UBC Museum of Anthropology’s (MOA) Native Youth Program (NYP), helping to revitalize and expand the initiative. This year, TD Bank Financial Group has made a $75,000 three-year commitment which will provide NYP with unprecedented support to not only help meet the growing demand for the program, but to assist in the creation of a winter curriculum as well as garner a larger and more diverse group of participants. It will also provide a solid foundation for MOA to secure endowment funding to support the program in perpetuity.The Native Youth Program focuses on giving First Nations youth opportunities to research and interpret their own cultures in a museum setting. For seven weeks each summer, NYP students become familiar with MOA’s collections and then share this knowledge with museum visitors. Under the guidance of the Program Manager, NYP students meet artists, elders, researchers, museum staff and others who help them learn about traditional and contemporary Northwest Coast cultures, allowing the students to further develop their own communication, leadership and team-building skills. Now in its 31st year, the NYP 2010 program will be able to take advantage of new facilities and technologies launched at MOA earlier this year.

“At TD, we understand that learning about one’s cultural roots is crucial to development, especially during formative years,” said Raymond Chun, SVP Pacific Region, TD Canada Trust. “This is why TD is honoured to once again provide funding for such an important and highly regarded youth program with the Museum of Anthropology.”

Pam Brown, Curator Pacific Northwest, and long time Manager of the Native Youth Program, is excited about TD’s investment in the program and opportunities that its financial support will provide. “A three-year financial commitment from TD gives the NYP a level of security that it has never had before. TD’s generous support will give us the stability to plan more enriched programs and initiate earlier advertising to attract a larger and more diverse resource of students and managers.”

While NYP has been co-sponsored by Aboriginal organizations since its inception in 1979, MOA Director Dr. Anthony Shelton acknowledges that the funding will be beneficial for years to come. “TD is committed to supporting education for Aboriginal students and various programs at UBC. We are very honoured and appreciative to be a part of TD’s generous support,” he said.

About the UBC Museum of Anthropology
The Museum of Anthropology was founded in 1949 to collect, conserve, research, and display objects and expressions of human creativity from British Columbia and around the world. Today, it is Canada’s largest teaching museum and one of its most popular public museums. Recently, the Museum completed a $55.5 million expansion and renewal project known as “A Partnership of Peoples,” providing UBC and the broader community with a premiere cultural destination as well as the finest ethnological and archaeological research facility in Canada.

Image: NYP Students, Pam Brown photo.

Contact
Jennifer Webb, MOA, 604.822.5950 or jennifer.webb@ubc.ca
Matthew Cram, TD, 416.983.1514 or matthew.cram@td.com