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May 3, 2021
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One of the most troubling trends to emerge during the pandemic is the sharp rise of anti-Asian racism. Nearly half of Asian people in BC experienced racism in the last year [1]. In Vancouver, anti-Asian hate crimes have gone up by 717% [2]. And yet, these statistics don’t capture just how harmful...
November 9, 2020
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During the pandemic, charities and nonprofits have played critical roles to fill gaps in services the public and private sectors are unable to address. Organizations like SWAN Vancouver have made all the difference for many of our community’s most marginalized populations during these challenging...
July 28, 2020
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When Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS) had to cancel their largest fundraiser in March due to COVID, they knew it was critical for them to find new ways to raise funds and continue their services. PADS breeds, raises, and trains assistance dogs to provide life-changing independence to people...
June 12, 2020
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Moving to a new country can be challenging in the best of times but during a pandemic, it can be even harder. House of Omeed , a charity in Burnaby, has been on the frontlines of immigrant and refugee settlement since 2016 — and now they’re on the frontlines of COVID-19 too. Based on a relationship...
May 8, 2020
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Mothers are the pillars of our communities and during these times of uncertainty, they are especially important in offering stability and care. Organizations like Mom2Mom Child Poverty Initiative are playing critical roles in supporting low-income mothers and children who are among those who have...
April 9, 2020
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July 27 Update: Note: We are no longer accepting donations or new applications to the Community Response Fund at this time. We encourage further donations to address pressing community needs, such as COVID-19 response and recovery, through our Community Impact Fund . We’re all feeling it lately...
April 2, 2020
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Some of the most inspiring examples of people coming together to confront adversity during this pandemic are coming out of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). One of the lifelines of the community, WISH Drop-In Centre Society , has been at the forefront of supporting the health, safety, and well-...
March 14, 2017
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Each year, Vancouver Foundation’s Grants and Community Initiatives team works closely with our volunteer Advisory Committee members to make discretionary grants to charities and other qualified donees across the province. We do this primarily through our broad-based and responsive Field of Interest...
April 4, 2016
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Vancouver Foundation is pleased to announce a series of upcoming information sessions in early April for potential grantees in our Health and Social Development field. These sessions will give an overview of our Field of Interest Grants program, our focus on funding social innovations , and the...
July 8, 2015
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Born and raised in Burnaby, Trevor Hall understands the importance of every person doing their part to make our community a better place to live. Trevor started his career as a youth care worker for a non-profit organization, providing front-line services for children with developmental...
May 13, 2015
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A new café has popped up in downtown Vancouver, serving up hot entrees, sandwiches, soups and salads to a busy lunch crowd. While ordinarily this wouldn’t be news, Café 335 is different: the affordable social enterprise eatery is staffed by graduates of the Culinary Skills Training Program, a...
September 19, 2014
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Vancouver Foundation is a proud supporter of SFU Public Square ’s Rise: Open Ideas Competition , a free competition open to the public that asks, “How can we design Metro Vancouver communities to adapt and thrive in the context of a 1 metre rise in sea level?” The competition encourages people from...
September 17, 2014
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SFU Public Square has launched Rise: An Ideas Competition Addressing Sea Level Rise to find innovative ways to address sea level rise in Metro Vancouver. Sign up to enter the competition, or simply join in on Exhibition Day. Free public exhibition On exhibition day, doors to the public for a free...
October 29, 2013
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A new bike park for the Boothroyd Indian Band is teaching local kids to do much more than grinds and flips. It’s 8:30 on a Saturday morning in July, just a few kilometres north of Boston Bar. The day is clear and promises to be a scorcher. In a dirt pit just a stone’s throw from the Boothroyd...
December 18, 2012
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Amy McMillan dreams of opening a 1960s-themed diner. Until that happens, she’s having a brilliant time learning the ropes at the COCO Café. When she’s not bustling around greeting customers with her unbridled enthusiasm and bright smile, she’s acquiring a collection of new talents like food prep,...
June 18, 2012
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Harry Jerome was a Canadian track-and-field athlete who competed in the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. He won bronze in the 100 metres in 1964, and gold in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and the 1967 Pan American Games. During his career, Jerome set a total of seven world...
June 17, 2012
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Every year, approximately 2,000 temporary farm workers from Mexico come to the Fraser Valley on a government work program. Most of us never see these men, working on tree farms, in nurseries and greenhouses, and in fields far from the main roads. But they are out there, sunrise to sunset, planting...
June 17, 2012
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“I heard a bluebird singing one day.” An elfin, tousled-haired girl sings onstage at Burnaby’s Museum Village, sweeping a broom and blowing bubbles . . . “He seemed a messenger of happy news. But now my bluebird is singing the blues.” Thirteen-year-old Avy Crowchild belts out the lament about...
December 18, 2011
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When a five-foot piece of broccoli starts talking, you listen. Especially when the floret is dispensing nutritional advice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). “Did you know broccoli boosts the immune system, and helps fight cancer? That almonds can cure a headache? That red grapes are much...
June 17, 2011
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Sunny Mahajan slips on a black Lululemon headband.He wiggles his forehead up and down and the headband rises. The rest of his face remains impassive and he keeps his body perfectly still. His forehead movement activates an iPod.It begins to speak in a female voice: “Play,” “Skip Forward,” “Scroll...
June 14, 2011
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She was an easy target. Gentle and wide-eyed, Cheryl Bosola Olamijulo was the new girl in class—and the only black kid in her entire Surrey, BC high school. Her family had emigrated from Nigeria in 2009 looking for a better life, but it wasn’t working out better for Cheryl. “I was always very shy,...
December 18, 2010
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Growing old is not for the faint of heart. Although we call them the golden years, depression and suicide among seniors is not uncommon. The end of a career, the loss of a spouse, a shrinking circle of friends, declining health and sometimes financial problems can all contribute to isolation,...
December 18, 2010
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Sasha Cumby’s mom, Debbie, says her daughter was a typical 16-year-old. But answering what made Sasha typical, her mom describes a young woman who was anything but an average teen: a straight ‘A’ student and advocate for animal rights, with career aspirations of becoming an environmental lawyer. A...
December 18, 2010
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It’s just a pair of socks. But Matthew Taylor knows those two bits of grey wool could make the difference between a good decision and a bad date tonight for a young man on the rain-slicked streets of downtown Vancouver. Taylor and another outreach worker are walking through downtown south and...
December 18, 2010
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Seventy-year-old Joyce Mar did not like lifting weights. But when an opportunity came up to participate in a free six-week exercise program as part of a UBC pilot study on how weightlifting affects cognitive function, she signed up, partly out of curiosity and partly because it was something she...