Mark your calendar! BGC Events Coming in 2023

Over the Edge – Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Club House Gala – Thursday, October 12, 2023

Corporate & Community Fundraising

New (updates coming!)

Ongoing

  • Thank you to Mealshare and all of the restaurant partners and patrons for your support in helping BGC provide healthy snacks and meals to our amazing kids! Click here to learn more about how Mealshare is working to end hunger for children and youth across Canada.
  • Mary Brown’s proudly stands behind BGC’s mandate to provide safe, supportive places where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, and develop the skills they need to succeed in life. As a brand, we feel a strong connection to BGC, based on our shared values and backgrounds. As well, we both have an uncompromising commitment to inclusion and diversity in all aspects of our organizations. As there are Mary Brown stores and BGC’s across Canada, it’s a natural fit for us to get involved locally from coast-to-coast. Mary Brown’s accepts donations for BGC at the checkout of every store. Next time you’re there, drop a few coins into their donation boxes and help support the kids in your community!
  • Thank you Green Inspiration BC for your ongoing support to BGC through your donation bins!
  • Support BGC when you purchase a copy of this book to help your child with new school jitters Lucy and Her Magic Umbrella. Partial proceeds will be donated to BGC. About the author: Yasmin Wallace was born in a small town in Ontario, Canada and currently lives in North Vancouver, B.C. where she works in the booming film and TV industry. With a background in visual and creative arts and a love for personal development, Yasmin has spent her life as an artist and an inventor of unique ideas. After having her son, Yasmin wanted to share some of the simple tools that had a positive impact on her family’s life. Lucy and Her Magic Umbrella is Yasmin’s first book and she hopes that you will enjoy the fun and creative way it helps your child create positive new habits. You can purchase her book from Amazon by clicking this link: here.
  • First Born Son Home Services (FBSHS) will donate a portion of each sale to BGC South Coast BC. Owner Martin Pharand, is a long-time, dedicated volunteer at our Langley Club so giving back to the community comes naturally to him. If you’d like to check out the services that Martin provides, please visit his website: https://www.fbshs.ca. Thank you, Martin, for dedicating your time and resources to BGC!

Storwell Offers an Annual Bursary of $2,000 to Help Foster Children Pursue Post-Secondary Education

Foster children and youth in care have a disproportionately low chance of advancing to post-secondary education, which can greatly impact their employment opportunities and overall quality of life. Right now, there are approximately 63,000 Canadian children living in permanent care with foster families, extended family, or in group homes. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of children and youth have been identified as having experienced or being at risk of experiencing abuse and neglect. These children and youth often experience difficulties gaining access to adequate education opportunities, especially when it comes to post-secondary education. For every 1,000 youths in Canadian foster care, only eight go on to graduate with a post-secondary education. One of the largest barriers to entry for children in foster care is the financial burden that comes along with post-secondary education.

When a young person “ages out” of foster care they lose access to many of the supports available through the child welfare system. Many young people leaving foster care do not have the same educational and employment opportunities as their contemporaries, leading to an employment rate 20% less than their peers. This lack of formal employment contributes to the risk of homelessness. Without a stable source of income, some former foster youth struggle with food security and long-term housing stability.

Youth leaving foster care often have strained connections with family and may struggle to build a strong support network. While many young people across Canada continue to rely on their parents for housing, financial, and emotional support well into their 20s, youth leaving foster care are expected to be completely independent at the age of 18. This means they may not have anyone to fall back on if they miss a bill payment, are temporarily out of work, or a large expense comes up. This leaves many young people at risk for unstable housing. Research shows a significant relationship between adult homelessness and a history of living in foster care.

A study done in 2017 by the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth found that over the last four decades, poor academic outcomes have been characteristic of former youth in care from Canada, the United States, and Britain. Youth in care struggle to complete high school with 56% of Ontario Crown Wards dropping out of high school.

In response to the growing number of foster children and youth in care that struggle to afford post-secondary studies, Storwell Self Storage has developed the Foster Children Bursary Program. The aim of the bursary program is to provide foster children and youth in care with resources and opportunities that might be otherwise unavailable to them. With the proper tools, these students can work towards building a better life for themselves through the pursuit of higher education. The bursary is for a value of $2,000, full eligibility requirements and access to the bursary application form can be found at: https://www.storwell.com/bursary-application