TD Bank Group Steps Up to Support our Belva Thomas Charity Bursary Program
Reaching Out to the Local Business Community
This past December, we took our first steps into the business community of Saint-Lambert to raise funds for Préville’s Belva Thomas Charity Bursary, which allows for hundreds of youth and families each year, who would not otherwise have the financial means, to take part in all of the different activities Préville has to offer.
When we walked into the TD bank on Victoria Avenue, in the Saint-Lambert village, we had no idea what to expect! At the time, we were seeking sponsorships for the Jennifer Gasoi Holiday show–a fundraising event for the bursary and an opportunity to showcase some of Préville’s talent alongside a Grammy-Award winning children’s singer-songwriter and performer.
While we had no appointment, the Branch Manager, Dania Marcoux, took the time to listen to our spiel–she had already looked over the materials we had dropped off at the branch the previous week. While she wasn’t sure that the branch itself could offer support at that time, she did say that she would help us to navigate the process for applying to TD Corporate for more substantial funding.
After the holidays, we met again and Dania had all of the information ready at hand. She also promised to speak with the other regional branches about a smaller donation that could be allotted in the near future. We sent some recent statistics to her so that the regional managers would understand a little more about our impressive growth and where our participants live.
Recent Growth
- Total registrations in all programmes, in 2019: 934
- Total registrations in all programmes, in 2022: 2354!
Growth in registration also means increased demand for bursary support, and in 2022 we had our highest demand to-date.
Percentage of Préville population by geographical location (approx.):
- Saint-Lambert 31%
- Longueuil 21%
- Brossard at 19%
- St-Hubert 10%
- Greenfield Park 6%
- The rest of the South shore, including LeMoyne, Candiac, La Prairie, etc. 10%
- The city of Montreal 2%
- Outside of the province, about 1%
Big News Comes in February
In early February, Dania shared the exciting news that she and her partners at the Brossard and Longueuil branches had earmarked $2000 for us!
On February 21, at a TD Bank Group event organized by Dania at the Saint-Lambert branch, we were presented a humongous cheque (literally)! It was a lot of fun and we felt lucky to be able to speak about the work we do, our amazing teachers and the families we serve, to an attentive audience of people who care about the Saint-Lambert community.
Julien Palardy, the Managing Director of Investments at TD, gave a fascinating presentation about what we might expect from the economy in the months to come, and while the outlook does not look great, being able to focus for a few minutes on the joy that the arts inspire –in good times and bad– balanced things out a little bit (and the delicious catering didn’t hurt either!). However, we were reminded that with a possible recession looming, yet more families may require financial assistance via our bursary program.
We ALL Say Thank you!
Our bursaries support deserving local families, as well as newly-arrived immigrants and refugees. Last year, our bursary recipients included several Ukrainian refugee families, who not only appreciated the arts-based programming that Préville offers, but also enjoyed the opportunity to integrate into Québec society.
So on behalf of the Préville Fine Art Centre and ALL the families who will benefit from this donation, we say THANK YOU to TD for their support.
Learn more about our Belva Thomas Charity Bursary Program.