Food Security

Many children on the North Shore rely heavily on school meal programs but over the weekend may not eat at all: this is 'the weekend hunger gap.' Backpack Buddies addresses this childhood hunger crisis by filling backpacks every Friday for students in need with meals and snacks to last the weekend.

For a cost of only $25, Backpack Buddies sends a child home with a bag full of kid approved meals to last the weekend. $925 feeds a child for the full school year.

When you donate through the West Vancouver Foundation, your donation will be matched by the Ian and Rosemary Mottershead Fund, up to $10,000.

Vancouver Food Runners (VFR) works in partnership with 150+ food businesses and 350+ active volunteers to deliver surplus food to 150+ nonprofit organizations across the Lower Mainland. VFR primarily operates in Vancouver, but our operations have been expanding in the North Shore, Burnaby, Richmond, and Delta.

We are the only food recovery program in Metro Vancouver that can efficiently and effectively offer same-day food donation collection through our app technology and volunteer food recovery model.

When you donate through the West Vancouver Foundation, your donation will be matched by the Ian and Rosemary Mottershead Fund, up to $8,000.

The Seniors’ Activity Centre’s meal program began in 2021, when the pandemic brought to light a genuine need among the community’s most vulnerable seniors who lacked the means to access regular meals. The Feed the Need program currently serves 350 meals per week, improving many lives.

Your donation will ensure that these seniors continue to receive healthy and nutritious meals until the end of 2025.

The cost
It costs $179,000 per year to run this program, and the funds raised through this campaign would allow us to continue offering the Food Security Program until the end of 2025.

Your contribution
Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of our vulnerable seniors.
Feed one senior for three months for $355
Feed one senior for six months for $709
Feed one senior for one year for $1,418
Even the smallest gift can make an impact.

Youth

Through our Sport4Life Grant Program, we work discreetly with North Shore families facing financial challenges to ensure that their children have the chance to play.

We partner with North Shore families with a net taxable family income of under $45,000, on social assistance, and in foster care regardless of foster family income. We issue up to $450 towards the registration costs for each eligible athlete, each year, covering up to 100% of their fees.

We believe that sports have the power to transform a child's life - physically, mentally, socially - now and for the rest of their lives.

When you donate through the West Vancouver Foundation, your donation will be matched by the Ian and Rosemary Mottershead Fund, up to $10,000.

For 20 years, Hollyburn Community Services Society has been providing a continuum of holistic and unique services to youth, individuals, and families who face social vulnerabilities across the North Shore. We offer shelter from the streets through our continuum of housing, support youth to pursue employment and post-secondary education, we help vulnerable seniors secure affordable housing, and victims of violence through a series of specialized victim support services.

Hollyburn Community Services Society's 5 R program offers a wrap-around, individualized service that supports highly marginalized youth to acquire what they need while developing resiliency.

Red Fox will deliver free Active Play programs at North Shore schools, parks and community special events, to inspire children to be active and learn new skills and to provide youth who face barriers with ongoing work experience and mentorship.

We will bring arts and environmental stewardship activities to Active Play sessions and we will invite youth to participate in civic engagement, violence prevention and environmental stewardship training activities with other youth from across Metro Vancouver.

When you donate through the West Vancouver Foundation, your donation will be matched, up to $10,000.

Health and Wellness

BCPF provides the healing comfort and companionship of pet therapy by visiting people who could benefit from the unconditional love and support of a pet in a social, emotional, or physical way. Our volunteer teams visit assisted living facilities, rehab facilities, mental health institutions, hospitals, cancer centers, and hospice facilities on a regular basis. In addition, we participate in special events where we provide pet therapy visits at schools, universities, community events, and corporate facilities.

When you donate through the West Vancouver Foundation, your donation will be matched by funds at the Foundation, up to $10,000

Family Services North Shore Community Hub provides a safe environment open year-round for our North Shore neighbours in need.

Over the holidays, the FSNS Christmas Bureau ensures families, individuals, and senior clients can celebrate over the holidays with a warm meal and spend time with family. Recipients have an average monthly income of $1,705 (family of 4), and in 2023, the program supported nearly 3,000 people living in our community including over 950 children.

Your gift will help brighten the holidays by providing personalized presents and holiday gift baskets for over 3,000 people.

The Client Care Program 'extends a hand up' to residents who find themselves on the margins - reaching out with a safety net that brings tangible, life-changing care. We work with our clients in a coaching relationship, along with providing no-cost grocery and nutrition support, clothing through our retail thrift store Clothes for Change, financial coaching, art therapy and short-term no-interest loans through our rent bank, as well as other goods and services through our network of external community partners.

When you donate through the West Vancouver Foundation, your donation will be matched by the Ian and Rosemary Mottershead Fund, up to $10,000.

The Restorative Response Program (RRP) is a relationship-based approach to addressing harm from crime or conflict. Centering on the needs of those harmed, it invites accountability from those responsible, fostering repair and healing to prevent future harm. RRP handles referrals from police and community agencies as an alternative to criminal and civil court processes. The year-round program addresses cases ranging from shoplifting and other minor offenses to serious harms including intimate partner violence and assault.