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January 3, 2019
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This story was originally published in the 2018 issue of the Vancouver Foundation Magazine . Written by Stacey McLachlan Twenty million dollars: that’s the amount that B.C. universities spend collectively each year on food for their campuses. But that figure has an impact far beyond the...
October 31, 2018
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Surrey Art Gallery's Youth Engagement Strategy The City of Surrey welcomes 1,000 new residents every month, 50 percent of whom are under 24 years of age. Given this, the Surrey Art Gallery is responding to the needs of young people with initiatives to strengthen their voices through art. Supported...
October 1, 2018
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Vancouver Foundation launched Fostering Change in 2013 with the goal of addressing homelessness by providing opportunities and support for youth transitioning out of foster care. Over the next five years, Fostering Change grew and evolved into something bigger and better than what we could’ve...
August 15, 2018
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This story was originally published in the 2018 issue of the Vancouver Foundation Magazine . Written by Natalie Bruckner-Menchelli | Photo by Robert Karpa "You never know what’s possible until you go beyond it to the impossible.” Those words were on a sign that hung in Clasina van Bemmel’s office...
May 31, 2018
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This story was originally published in the 2018 issue of the Vancouver Foundation Magazine . Written by Robin Brunet No matter how much media attention it receives, the opioid crisis is still too frequently perceived as a problem plaguing the disadvantaged. The British Columbia Centre on Substance...
November 7, 2017
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Ten years ago , Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait laced up their sneakers and left Vancouver to run a marathon. The next day they ran another, and then another – and about a year later they had completed 369. Over the Rockies, through the Maritimes, across Louisiana’s bayous and stretches of the Arizona...
November 6, 2017
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What an incredibly powerful day. On October 24th, Vancouver Foundation's Fostering Change initiative and First Call BC joined forces for an amazing day of dialogue between youth in-and-from foster care and provincial politicians, including Premier John Horgan, current Minister of Children and...
October 18, 2017
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Margaret H. Mason | Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright I meet frequently with individuals and families who are bringing thoughtful consideration to their philanthropy and are contemplating whether a private family foundation would be the most appropriate vehicle to achieve their objectives. Invariably...
September 6, 2017
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Preparing for the Big One Lourette Swanepoel works as an urban planner , and so she was very aware that her neighbourhood was lacking one key plan: earthquake preparedness. “I didn’t have my act together,” she says. “Everyone says they should but nobody does.” So in the summer of 2015, with a $500...
September 6, 2017
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Empowering older women In 2012, Krista James first met with a group of two dozen elderly Chinese women from Richmond, most of them immigrants and grandmothers, to ask them what sort of change they wanted to see in their community and in their lives. James, who is the Vancouver-based national...
September 5, 2017
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Ava, a 22-year-old UBC law student, motors along Highway 16 just west of Prince George in the pouring rain. As the car head- lights illuminate the outline of an Aboriginal girl hitchhiking by the side of the road, Ava wavers. Should she stop and pick her up? But the moment is gone, and she...
July 4, 2017
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“Deep inside, I’ve always had a close connection to giving back to the community,” says Derek Wills. His compassion for others was inspired by his parents who spent many hours volunteering with service clubs while he was growing up. “My parents involved me in volunteering at a very early age by...
July 4, 2017
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One day soon after the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris, Shazia Suleman was walking home from a neighbourhood park with her two young children when a man started yelling at her. “Go back to your country! Go back to your country!” “He’s right behind us and yelling,” she says, recalling how...
March 31, 2017
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For almost 75 years , Vancouver Foundation has depended on the prudent management of its endowment—$1.1 billion as of 2016—to help fund its work across the province. And few know the challenges of managing the funds—the unpredictability, uncertainty and lack of guarantees—better than board member...
March 31, 2017
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Every Monday , Michael Leland cycles to the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, towing a bike trailer. The trailer sports his own modifications: its load capacity has been expanded thanks to a freezer rack. Sometimes accompanied by a fellow member of the Binners’ Project, he pulls bottles and cans from a...
February 16, 2017
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Community can start with carrots —along with rosemary, squash, rhubarb and pumpkins. That’s been the experience of Carlson Hui, Matt Cooke and other residents at a 155-unit condo complex called James. Located in Olympic Village, the 14-storey high-rise has managed to transform the pervasive sense...
January 19, 2017
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Vancouver Foundation manages endowment funds on behalf of more than 400 charitable agencies across B.C. A charitable agency endowment fund provides for prudent capital growth coupled with a predictable source of income, which is very helpful in years where donations are down or government funding...
January 3, 2017
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In January 2016, Kevin Wong was a 23-year-old criminology student who, inspired by cop movies, wanted to become a police officer. Ian Desrosier was a 41-year-old inmate at the Nanaimo Correctional Centre (NCC), nearing the end of his two-year sentence for breaking and entering. Both were nervous as...
December 19, 2016
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Victoria’s Red Barn Market, on the corner of Vanalman and Glanford Avenues, is a bustling place. Customers come and go, day in, day out, some grabbing a smoked-meat sandwich for lunch, others picking up a week’s worth of meat and fresh produce. Outside, where the fruit and veggies are neatly...
December 17, 2016
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Mountain Equipment Co-op's commitment to sustainability runs deep. Among its many initiatives, the retail co-operative has donated millions of dollars in grants towards environmental causes, implemented a green building program and established a zero waste program—all in an effort to reduce their...
November 24, 2016
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1. CONSIDER YOUR CHARITABLE INTERESTS What are you passionate about? Arts and culture? Helping children? Medical research? When you establish a Donor Advised Fund at Vancouver Foundation, you will have the flexibility to support the charities and causes you care about most. 2. ESTABLISH YOUR FUND...
April 25, 2016
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Vancouver Foundation is pleased to announce Neighbourhood Small Grants are available again in Victoria (Hillside-Quadra). These grants are made possible through a partnership between Vancouver Foundation, Victoria Foundation , and Quadra Village Community Centre . The Neighbourhood Small Grants...
April 21, 2016
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When a research team from InWithForward moved into a social housing complex in Burnaby for three months last year, their research revealed that many people with cognitive disabilities were feeling bored, stuck and curious about what else is out there. “We think if Kudoz is going to scale, it can’t...
April 8, 2016
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At the same moment that one 19-year-old Vancouverite is being chauffeured to his new university campus residence by his parents, toting school supplies they’ve purchased together, another 19-year-old is being told that he no longer has a home, financial support or relationships with supportive...
March 15, 2016
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We depend on bees for a lot more than honey. In fact, bees pollinate the plants that supply up to one-third of the food we eat, so it’s important to both global food security and our local economy to protect their habitat. And yet, even the very act of beekeeping can be to our own benefit – a fact...