Maritime Museum of British Columbia wants you to help them ‘float the boat’

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WatchThe Maritime Museum of British Columbia was founded in 1955.

Maritime Museum of British Columbia wants you to help them ‘float the boat’

Maritime Museum of British Columbia wants you to help them ‘float the boat’

Duration 2m

The Maritime Museum of British Columbia was founded in 1955.

Longtime volunteer Ann Jones explains that the museum started from humble beginnings. “Actually, it started off as a collection of items that were being thrown away after the Second World War, and somebody at the [CFB Esquimalt] Base decided to collect them, and it grew from there.”

Jones is one of the many volunteers who help keep the museum afloat.

“We’re very grateful to our volunteers,” says Brittany Vis, associate director of the museum. “They’ve been a huge support. We have about 150 volunteers, and we have about five staff members.”

Vis explains that the volunteers come from all walks of life. “A lot are people who recently retired, a lot of people too, who maybe are connected with someone who’s a boater, or maybe connected with the navy, or the coast guard.  We’ve also got a lot of students who volunteer with us – many of them are students who are interested in getting into museum work.”

Like every other non-profit, the Maritime Museum has been hugely impacted by the pandemic. It is why the museum is hoping the public will support its Float the Boat fundraising campaign.

Veronica Cooper has more in this week’s Vital People feature.

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Veronica CooperVeronica Cooper

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