Credit unions inject $250,000 into Manitoba Museum donation-matching program

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This article was published 13/12/2019 (2473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new chapter was added to the Manitoba Museum’s Bringing Our Stories Forward capital campaign Friday, as Manitoba’s credit unions announced a donation of $250,000.

The provincial government’s matching donation of 50 cents on the dollar, announced by Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Cathy Cox, bumps the total gift up to $375,000.

“Credit unions have deep roots in communities across the province, going back to 1937,” Marilyn Brennan, Credit Union Central of Manitoba’s senior vice-president for governance and strategy, told a press conference.

“Credit unions are generous supporters of all kinds of groups and causes, but they’ve stepped up enthusiastically to support this project, largely, I think, because they share with the museum a real appreciation for our province’s rich history and the importance of telling our stories in new and exciting ways.”

Jeoff Chipman, chairman of the Bringing Our Stories Forward campaign, also announced the Manitoba Museum Foundation and the Chipman Family Foundation have committed matching funds for the next $250,000 raised in the public sector between now and March 2020.

Every dollar donated will be matched by 50 cents from each foundation. The province will then match that total donation, resulting in three dollars for the capital renewal project.

“We hope that the matching of funds… creates a new and powerful incentive for the private-sector donors to invest in this renewal project,” Chipman said. “I truly believe in the work of the museum and the vital role it plays in our community.”

The Manitoba Museum, which turns 50 next year, is hoping to raise a total of $20.5 million. The money will be used to complete the ongoing renewal of 42 per cent of the museum’s existing galleries — Nonsuch, Urban, Grasslands and Orientation — as well as creating one new gallery, Winnipeg, which was completed in November.

The credit unions’ support will contribute to the renewal of the Grasslands gallery, devoted to the story of the Manitoba Prairie, an endangered ecosystem.

“The gallery will tell the stories of the human and natural world and how the landscape has been affected by immigration, agriculture, trade and climate change,” said James Cohen, chairman of the museum’s board of governors.

“It will insure Indigenous voices are heard, presenting the rise of the Métis nation and the stories, both positive and challenging, of the First Nations peoples.”

The museum also hopes to construct a new stand-alone Science Centre.

To date, $9.3 million has been raised from the public sector. The museum is relying heavily on the donations after a promise of $10 million by the previous NDP government was changed to $1.4 million — plus up to an additional $3.6 million in matching funds — by the Pallister government,

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @dedaumier