A donation of $6,500 by TD Bank Group and the Yorkton and District Community Foundation will allow Youth Life Skills, a program of the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) to connect with rural youth and those without the necessary devices to participate in programs.
Youth Life Skills is a preventive and proactive program for youth ages 13 to 18 years of age. It focuses on developing life skills and assets by offering individual mentorship and opportunities to participate in various group activities. The program hours are flexible to meet the needs of the youth and family.
During the COVID‐19 pandemic, all programs and individual sessions were held online, which made it difficult for some youth to participate because of lack of devices or internet service. The donation allowed Youth Life Skills to purchase 10 laptops which are loaned to participants, and to provide an internet connection.
When in‐person group meetings are allowed again, Youth Life Skills manager Miranda Dziaduck points out, the laptops will be available on a loan basis to rural youth who may not be able to travel to Yorkton to take part.
“We can now remove those barriers so everyone has the ability to participate,” Dziaduck added.
Andrew Sedley, Executive Director of SIGN, noted that this donation allows youth to participate in a safe and healthy environment, and he thanked TD Bank and the Community Foundation for making a lasting commitment to the community.
Antony Sunny, the branch manager of TD Bank in Yorkton, said that the TD Community Resilience Initiative, which provided the funding for the Life Skills donation, has assisted many social services agencies and organizations that deliver critical support to communities.
“These are challenging times for all of us, but many companies, like TD, believe we are all in this together,” he added. “The health and safety of our neighbours, and our community, affects us all.”
The Yorkton & District Community Foundation, launched in October 2019, is a registered charity which connects donors and charities to identify and address local community needs, advocate for meaningful social change and to make lasting contributions to the well‐being of the community.
