Finding a way to respectfully support our families who, despite their best efforts, were having an especially hard time at Christmas was at the top of the agenda when I joined Boys and Girls Clubs way back in December 2005. The debate swirled, both internally and with our donors… “Do families really need this kind…
In advance of the Raptors’ annual exhibition game in Vancouver last week, NBA Raptors All-Stars, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan along with Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira dropped by our Kimount Club in Vancouver to host a basketball clinic with our kids and to unveil the gym that NBA Canada and Bell refurbished. “We all…
The recent news about the death of 18-year-old Alex Gervais in a hotel in the Fraser Valley has focused on the fact that he was housed in a hotel for a period of time while he was in the care of the government. It’s probably worth saying out loud that the reason that kids end…
Fact: I like back to school in September. All the super cliché things make me happy – the crisper air, changing leaves, and I’ll admit it, I still kinda like the back to school shopping. We start fresh, look to the future, and get excited about what’s coming next. Around the Boys and Girls Clubs,…
What comes to mind when you imagine THE perfect summer for kids? You might think of day trips to the beach or Science World, eating ice cream, a week away at camp, hiking, baseball, swimming, or even just playing outside with friends. What if I told you those exact things are happening in our Clubs…
Before the day is over, I wanted to share a few highlights from today – our 8th Annual Pink Shirt Day. We are so grateful to CKNW, Coast Capital Savings, London Drugs and all of the other partners who make Pink Shirt Day not only a great public awareness campaign against bullying, but financially successful…
Have you ever thought about what ‘belonging’ means? For some, an exclusive Club might come to mind, and to others, it might conjure up feelings of security and safety. If you ask kids (as I did recently), they say it means that ‘you fit in’, and when people are nice to you. ‘Belonging’ isn’t a…
In response to our last email newsletter, we received an incredible $8,000 in gifts, including one gift to match Jack Gin’s $5,000 challenge to “give forward”! Now that the dust has settled, we are turning our attention to raising the remaining $22,000 in unplanned expenses/lost revenue that resulted from the school closures in June and…
…What Boys and Girls Clubs are doing next week during the first week of the school strike. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 2 weeks fielding calls and inquiries about how BGC is responding to the likelihood that kids won’t be going back to school next week. So, I thought it might…
If you opened this because you were hoping to hear about US college basketball, I hope you’re not so disappointed that you don’t read on! At Boys and Girls Clubs, March brings a whole different kind of madness – full days with our Clubs full of kids – hundreds in fact, on school spring break!…