Saskatoon’s Nutrien has made a major $3 million donation to the Wanuskewin Heritage Park.
The announcement was made this morning and the money will go toward the park’s $40 million Thundering Ahead campaign.
Campaign co-chair Felix Thomas says the potash company is setting a good example for other corporations who may also be thinking of getting involved with Thundering Ahead.
“The biggest thing is we’ve got one of the biggest companies in Saskatchewan, in Canada, taking a chance on Wanuskewin and believing in it and paving the way for others to jump on board,” he says.
The Thundering Ahead campaign has a number of components which include renovating the existing building, restoring cultivated lands back to native prairie, building upon existing and new Indigenous art galleries, introducing a herd of plains bison and having Wanuskewin Heritage Park recognized as Saskatchewan’s first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.
Thomas says the campaign is not only about getting Wanuskewin the international recognition it deserves but also letting the people of the province know just what the park has to offer.
“It’s like any place in the world, you don’t know what’s in your own backyard. I think a lot of people in Orange County can’t understand why people go to Disneyland. It’s the same thing with Wanuskewin, a lot of our visitors are international visitors.”
The Thundering Ahead campaign currently sits at roughly $31 million in cash of its $40 million goal.
The campaign was launched in February 2017.
(PHOTO: Thundering Ahead campaign co-chair Wayne Brownlee accepts a ceremonial blanket at the Nutrien donation announcement. Photo by Fraser Needham.)