Media Releases

Museum holds Annual General Meeting
Posted by Children's Museum Admin (cmadmin) on Friday, 14th December, 2007 at 10:02 AM
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Kitchener, ON - Yesterday evening, under their recently appointed President, Tim Jackson, Children's Museum staff and the Board of Directors held their fourth Annual General Meeting and reported on what has proven to be a successful financial year which ended June 30th.

For the first time in the organization's history, the Museum was able to report an operating surplus in excess of $22,000. In addition, paid attendance to the Museum has risen 6% over the last fiscal year. The Museum has also seen other reversals of negative trends and has enjoyed an increase in both membership purchases and renewals.

"It is important for us to communicate to all those originally involved in the Museum's inception, from the visionaries to the founders, to the community at large, that their investments were sound and are now beginning to pay dividends," said David Marskell, the Museum's CEO.

"Although the Museum is experiencing positive momentum and renewed optimism, we realize we are not yet out of the woods," states Tim Jackson, the Museum's Board President. "We still have the daunting task to fundraise $900,000.00 this fiscal year and though we are over half way there, the remaining amount will be a challenge. The Museum hopes to reengage the original supporters and visionaries to aid in this task."

Regardless, the Museum's future is looking brighter than ever before as they have successfully attracted and lined up world class exhibits such as Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall, an anticipated blockbuster which is scheduled for this January and Arctic Adventure: A Celebration of Canada's North, which, both timely and topical, will grace the Museum in June of this upcoming year. "The success of the past fiscal year is a good base for us to continue to grow upon," continues Marskell. "We expect that our upcoming exhibits, especially Jane Goodall's Discovering Chimpanzees, will solidify the Museum's status as an educational and entertaining destination for children and adults of all ages."

The Museum's continued efforts are beginning to surface in other ways as well. The Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, for example, has nominated the Children’s Museum for the 2008 Innovation Award as part of the annual Business Excellence Awards Gala being held in February.