Les Arnelien, Area Manager for TD Canada Trust has announced a $12,000 donation to The Health Foundation's Education and Scholarship Program. This brings TD Bank Financial Group's total contributions for this scholarship program to $116,000, and brings the total of their contributions to The Health Foundation to $124,000.
"The Health Foundation's Education and Scholarship Program was launched in 2002 with a generous contribution and a long-term commitment from TD Bank Financial Group, and we are very pleased that this partnership continues to this day," says Ross Fisher, Executive Director of The Health Foundation.
"Eleven years ago when The Health Foundation wanted to start an education and scholarship program for employees of the health region they approached TD Bank Financial Group for funding. Since then, for eleven consecutive years TD Bank Financial Group has provided scholarships for educational courses that contribute to the professional development of nurses or other practicing caregivers in our health region," adds Arnelien. "The TD Bank believes in education and in giving back to the communities where we do business. This program allows us to do both of those things and to make a difference in the quality of care available to the people of this area."
The Health Foundation's Scholarship Fund awards approximately $24,000 a year to help further the training and education of health care staff in east central Saskatchewan. The TD Bank Financial Group contributes $12,000 annually to fund 50 per cent of the awards.
Since the program started in 2002, there have been 248 awards totaling $231,100. In addition, the TD Bank Financial Group and The Health Foundation have sponsored four workshops in the past four years for nurses and therapists. Rather than sending nurses and therapists out to workshops, we are bringing the workshops here, allowing more people to take specialized training than would otherwise be possible.
"The Health Foundation is very grateful to TD Bank Financial Group for the generous and consistent support to the Education and Scholarship Program," concludes Fisher. It is fair to say that without the support of TD Bank our education program would not exist. It is exceptional that TD has provided this level of support for eleven consecutive years.
"We are really pleased to have learned that an added benefit of this program is that in some cases it has made it a little easier to recruit healthcare staff to work here. Most health regions do not have an education program like this one. This education program is a supplement to what the province and health regions ordinarily do."
