Four Canadian organizations dedicated to
mitigating the impact of wildfires and enhancing community
resilience receive funding
TORONTO, May 7, 2024
/CNW/ - With active fires starting earlier than usual and many
signs pointing to a potentially catastrophic wildfire season ahead,
TD Bank Group (TD) today announced a CAD$250,000 donation to organizations focused on
wildfire and disaster relief prevention across Canada, including in British Columbia, Alberta and Atlantic
Canada.
According to recent metrics from sources including Environment
and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada, this season
is projected to be Canada's worst
wildfire season to date, underscoring the urgent need for proactive
measures to address the escalating risk of wildfires. Currently,
there are approximately 60 fires burning across the country,
notably in northern British
Columbia, northern Alberta,
and the southern Northwest
Territories.
"As a member of local communities across Canada, TD is fully aware of the distress,
disruptions and destruction wildfires can cause" said Alicia Rose, Associate Vice President, Social
Impact, Sustainability and Corporate Citizenship. "One of the ways
we aim to support our communities to be able to handle such tough
moments is by providing funding to organizations working to help
people stay safe, avoid the worst-case scenario and maintain access
to daily necessities. We hope that our donation today will help
such organizations to equip communities with the knowledge and
tools they need to bolster their prevention and preparedness
efforts so that they can proactively tackle wildfires risks and
avoid being impacted as much as possible."
The CAD$250,000 donation from TD
will be split equally among the following 4
organizations:
First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) of British Columbia plays a pivotal role in
supporting First Nations communities in British Columbia with wildfire prevention,
education, training, and emergency management response and
planning. They are working in collaboration with communities across
British Columbia to enhance their
safety through programs that train, educate and support local
leaders, equip communities, and provide assistance with accessing
funding.
University of Alberta Wildfire
Analytics Team works to develop practical, insightful, and
accessible tools and approaches for immediate use by decision
makers working to help social and ecological systems to thrive in
fire prone environments. They are helping communities and fire
authorities pre-plan evacuation routes, prioritize where to deploy
their crews and proactively reduce fire fuel by conducting original
research and working with fire managers.
CLIMAtlantic facilitates access to data and information
that fosters collaboration among regional and local groups to help
Atlantic Canadian communities to adapt to the challenges posed by
wildfires and climate change.
GlobalFire (part of GlobalMedic) helps strengthen the emergency
response capacity of organizations and communities around the world
by collecting and donating fire suppression equipment, training
local first responders in firefighting and first aid and performing
Search and Rescue operations around the world. To support smaller
Canadian municipalities, fire departments and Indigenous
communities that need to bolster their current capacity, they
created a lending library of equipment to help ensure areas of
greatest need can be reached.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively
known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth
largest bank in North America by assets and serves over
27.5 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number
of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian
Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD
Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most
Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth
(U.S.), and an investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation; Wealth
Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD
Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD
Cowen. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial
services firms, with more than 17 million active online and mobile
customers. TD had $1.91 trillion in assets
on January 31, 2024. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under
the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock
Exchanges.
SOURCE TD Bank Group