Sun Life Financial Honours Its Veterans

It began with a letter. A woman wrote to Sun Life Financial Canada about her father, a longtime Sun Life employee based in Singapore and a veteran of the Second World War. He had suffered terribly as a prisoner of war, the woman wrote, but survived. Had Sun Life ever considered doing something to honour the sacrifices made by employees like her father?

“We thought it was a lovely idea,” says Linda MacKenzie, Sun Life’s Assistant Vice-President, Philanthropy. “After considering a few other options, we made a significant financial gift to the Canadian War Museum. We realized it was the ideal partner for honouring Sun Life employees and financial advisors who, through service in the armed forces or merchant navies of Canada and its allies, defended their countries, peoples, freedoms and values.”

In a special ceremony on Remembrance Day, November 11, 2011, Kevin Dougherty, President of Sun Life Financial Canada, unveiled an honorary plaque in Regeneration Hall at the War Museum. “It was very moving,” says Linda MacKenzie. “Our plaque is right next to the fabulous painting Sacrifice (Charles Sims, c. 1918), which shows the many ways that Canadians have been affected by war.”

Bringing Canada’s Military History to More Canadians

Mark O’Neill, President and CEO, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation and Kevin Dougherty, President of Sun Life Financial Canada Inc., CWM2011-0087-0030-Dm

“As well as memorializing Sun Life Canada’s veterans, the company’s significant financial gift helps the Museum bring more of Canada’s military history to more Canadians,” explains Claude Drouin, Director of Philanthropy for the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation.

“Their gift will have a wide range of impacts, from helping us acquire and preserve artifacts, to making our collection more accessible through War Museum and travelling exhibitions, to research that puts artifacts in a historical and social context, to education programs, both here at the Museum and through our website. Sun Life is making a difference in so many ways.”

To learn more about commemorative giving at the Museum, contact Claude Drouin, Director of Philanthropy, at 819-776-8625.