What an amazing year it has been! Our biggest and most successful Dinner to Make a Difference in October raised an unprecedented $90,000! Fred Lee returned as host and brought with him, as his co-host, a new face to the CLICK family, CTV news anchor Norma Reid. We directed more than $60,000 to 38 programs in the spring and $75,000 to 33 programs in November. A personal highlight was hosting the kick-off to 2019 Inner City Kids Week at Eric Hamber Secondary School in May, which of course featured the hard-fought tug of war competition between Vancouver secondary schools.
To date, CLICK has directed $822,000 to programs for inner city children and youth since the foundation launched in 2004. In that first year, CLICK granted $9,000 to seven different programs. For each of the last three years, CLICK has directed more than $100,000 to over 80 programs in the community. We are on track to reach $1,000,000 directed to programs by 2021! What started 15 years ago by co-founders Catherine Atyeo and Alva Jensen has developed into an important champion for children and youth in the inner city. While CLICK’s ability to have an impact may have changed, what hasn’t changed is the need that we see. The grim statistics remain the same: one in five children lives in poverty in the Lower Mainland. Housing prices have climbed, the cost of living has increased but the statistics related to child poverty have remained the same, or in many cases become worse.
As the holidays approach, I urge you to give generously and give often. Whether it is a donation of $5 or $5,000, every little bit makes a difference to those in need. And not only monetarily – your gift says to inner city youth that someone believes in them and believes enough to support them. With your help and generosity I am sure that we can reach that $1,000,000 before 2021!
I hope that 2020 is filled with moments of joy and peace for you and your family. Happy holidays!
Jaclyn Tsang
President