Giving Tuesday at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre and Historic Fort Normandeau

Tuesday, December 1^st is known as Giving Tuesday and is the opening day of the giving season; a time to celebrate and encourage activities that support charities and non-profits. This Giving Tuesday, we wanted to highlight some of the great work Alberta museums are doing in their communities, and to encourage support for these institutions through the Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility. We spent the day in Red Deer getting to know the 2015 recipient of the Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility: the KerryWood Nature Centre and Historic Fort Normandeau. 

A little background before we get into our adventures: The Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility supports and furthers the work of museums that are solving community issues and promoting health and well-being through programs that affect real social and environmental change. Recipients are awarded $3000 to put towards investigating why their programs are so successful and modelling these successes for other museums in Alberta through a one-day workshop. As the third recipient of the Janes Award, Kerry Wood Nature Centre and Historic Fort Normandeau will host a workshop  in the spring of 2016 to share their experiences with other museum professionals.

Robert R Janes Award for Social Responsibility and Giving Tuesday

“Imagine a day dedicated to giving back … around the world, across Canada and in your own community! Just as Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season, Giving Tuesday is the opening day of the giving season.” givingtuesday.ca

This year, while museums across Alberta work with their communities to create programs that give back and promote social and environmental awareness, the Alberta Museums Association (AMA) will be participating in Giving Tuesday to raise awareness and support for the Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility. The Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility is an annual award that recognizes, supports, and furthers the work of museums that are solving community issues and promoting health and well-being. The Award was made possible through an initial donation from Dr. Janes, who continues to provide funding to the Award, and relies on additional community funding to continue directly supporting museums that are true contributors to the social, cultural, and educational fabric of Alberta. Award recipients are museums that do things differently and demonstrate leadership by building museums as true community spaces that affect our environmental and social landscapes.

Recipients of the Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility receive $3,000 to investigate their drivers for success, scale up their activities, and host a workshop designed to model their lessons and successes for other institutions. The 2014 recipient, Fort Calgary, used the funds to examine the impact of their community garden on their neighbours in the inner city and demonstrate how the garden encourages stronger relationships with their community. Funds were also used to host a one-day workshop that explored what community engagement and social responsibility mean to the Fort and to their long standing partner, Suncor Energy Foundation.

The 2015 recipient, Historic Fort Normandeau and the Kerry Wood Nature Centre in Red Deer, will host a workshop in the spring of 2016 to share their environmental sustainability and socially responsible work. As part of the AMA’s Giving Tuesday initiative, AMA staff will spend Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at the Centre lending a hand with this work and learning how it is integrated into the day to day life of the Centre. Follow the AMA @AlbertaMuseums and through the #GivingTuesdayCA and #MuseumsEngage hashtags as we explore the Centre’s important work, and the impact it has on the Red Deer community.