We get to partner up with some incredible groups.
They are the reason that we do what we do. Every one of them is deserving of your support, so below are short summaries of what they're up to and links to where you can learn more and support through donations, volunteer time, or other means.
Of course, one of the best ways to get involved is to join us for an event and be a direct contribution to our next group of presenting charities:
Fall 2019 @ Stanley Park Brewing
Family Smart is a charity that comes alongside young people with mental health challenges and their families or caring adults to provide support, service navigation assistance, information and resources to enhance the mental health of children and youth.
Supa Society provides families living with Autism unique event experiences such as surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding in an inclusive environment.
BC Wheelchair Basketball Society believes that everyone should have the opportunity to be included in wheelchair basketball.
Summer 2019 @ The Vancouver Club
Some Assembly Arts Society is a charitable non-profit with a primary focus on serving at-risk youth throughout Vancouver. They build community, awareness, and dialogue through high-quality theatre productions that foster appreciation for the arts while educating the public about social issues facing youth.
Play Better is a simple yet innovative program that equips coaches to infuse values into sport, while teaching children to play better soccer. It accomplishes this by changing one thing — the rewards system. With Play Better, players receive charitable rewards for achieving technical development milestones. The long-term impact is better players who understand positive impact beyond the scoreboard: citizenship, community investment, and personal growth.
Mission Possible is helping people build sustainable, independent lives in the Downtown Eastside. Through their employment readiness program, soft-skill training, and paid transitional job opportunities through their social enterprises, Mission Possible is creating lasting positive change for individuals every day.
Spring 2019 @ Chewies Coal Harbour
The Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society provides free, safe, timely and efficient transportation for patients with neither the friends, family or the financial means to get to and from their cancer related treatment and doctor’s appointments throughout the Lower Mainland.
Peak House is a voluntary, ten-week, live-in, treatment program for youth seeking freedom from problematic substance use. The program is for youth of all genders between 13-18 years old and works to support youth in a successful and meaningful reengagement with their home communities and the people who care for them.
The Millipede Project puts shoes on the ever growing feet of young children living at or below the poverty line, because to own a pair of shoes-that-fit isn’t simply about protecting a child’s feet, it’s about protecting and nurturing a child’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth.
Winter 2018 @ The White Lounge
The Good Soup Truck is on a mission to assist in providing hunger relief within the community. They are a mobile soup kitchen created to serve the needs of Vancouverites living with hardship. They deliver free, substantial, soup-based meals in an environment that is safe, supportive and comforting.
Kidsafe BC: When schools close for winter, spring and summer breaks, KidSafe opens. They provide vulnerable children with the safety, supervision, nutritious meals and educational programming they need and deserve, but lack access to, due to their challenging life circumstances.
Prostate Cancer Foundation BC are mainly volunteers that work tirelessly to support men and their families in the province. Their small three-person office works closely with volunteers to ensure that events, programs and services continue to support and educate.
Fall 2018 @ The Labatt Institute
Stigma Free Society focuses on the awareness, understanding and acceptance of mental health issues. Their work is dedicated to remove the stigma from mental illness through awareness, education and support. They have a created a program for organizations to complete to certify them as ‘Stigma-Free Zones’.
A Better Life Foundation promotes the ability to improve one’s circumstance by fulfilling the basic need of nutritious food. They run programs in impoverished areas of Vancouver serving groups such as at-risk youth, women fleeing violence and individuals living below the poverty line. They have served over 2 million meals.
Summer 2018 @ The Vancouver Club
BC Wheelchair Sports provides opportunities for kids and adults with physical disabilities throughout the province to lead healthy active lives. BC Wheelchair Sports impacts lives by removing barriers to participation including a wheelchair loan program, peer support, financial assistance, direct programming and individualized solutions.
The Burrard Arts Foundation promotes the development of, and excellence in, the visual arts in Canada through innovative projects and programs. BAF seeks to advance the understanding and appreciation of the arts in Vancouver by showcasing local artistic talent in dynamic ways that are within the public’s grasp.
Take a Hike is a full-time alternate education program that engages vulnerable youth ages 15-18 through a combination of academics, therapy, adventure-based learning and community involvement. The program's goals are to minimize barriers to learning, address personal issues, and help students achieve greater social and academic success.
HeadsUpGuys is a unique online resource that was developed to support men in their fight against depression by providing tips, tools, information about professional services, and stories of success. It is the only resource of its kind in Canada, and one of the very few such resources in the world that is specifically dedicated to men with depression.
Mackie's Place is a drop-in centre for at risk youth right in the heart of inner city Surrey. Their mission is to engage, equip and encourage young people while creating a platform where the community can be part of supporting transforming young people’s lives. They offer young people a safe place to come, to eat, and feel loved, to be supported and inspired to dream about new possibilities for their futures.
Lower Mainland Humane Society is an animal rescue shelter. They take all animals in the Lower Mainland dumped and abandoned that have health issues and behavioural problems. They don’t euthanize any of them and provide a sanctuary for many of them that can’t find forever homes.
Winter 2017 @ The Loft at Earls Yaletown
Mom2Mom serves children in poverty in Vancouver. With three staff, and 110 dedicated volunteers, they build a community for low-income moms that reduces stress on their families, and connects their children to opportunities and resources.
WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre provides all women who have experienced any form of sexualized violence with support and healing, and engage with youth to develop leadership for prevention of future violence.
Instruments of Change. Through a wide range of educational arts experiences, Instruments of Change has empowered 1000s of people to become instruments of transformative change in their own lives. Since 2011, their many arts-based community development programs have served youth and adults in schools, hospices, shelters, community centres and prisons.
Fall 2017 @ New Oxford
Yo Bro | Yo Girl Youth Initiative runs a series of strength-based programs in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. They cultivate resiliency in at-risk youth and empower them with tools to avoid the perils of drugs, gangs, crime and violence.
Pain BC is a collaborative non-profit organization made up of people in pain, health care providers, and leaders from universities, government, business and the non-profit sector. They aim to improve the lives of people in pain through education, empowerment and innovation.
The British Columbia Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse is a non-profit society established to provide therapeutic services for males who have been sexually abused at some time in their lives.
Summer 2017 @ Tap & Barrel
Backpack Buddies fills the weekend hunger gap for children who rely on school meal programs Monday to Friday. They use a unique donor school model in order to fulfil their goal, engaging children from various backgrounds as part of the solution.
Pivot Legal Society uses legal and political advocacy to challenge laws and policies in four issue areas: police accountability, drug policy, homelessness, and sex workers’ rights. They work collaboratively with people impacted by poverty and marginalization to bring forward legal cases and execute campaigns that will make a difference in their lives.
Potluck Café Society is a social enterprise providing nutritious meals and employment to residents of the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Their aim is to help end the cycle of poverty in the DTES community and address the needs of its more nutritionally vulnerable residents through solutions that promote employment and nutrition.
Spring 2017 @ Blackbird Public House
Camp Kerry provides education, support, and counselling services to individuals, families and groups who are grieving the death of a loved one or coping with a life-threatening illness.
Breakfast Club of Canada provides breakfast programs in various schools across the province and the country. They believe in the importance of providing access to healthy food for children and teenagers, and training youths and volunteers, which in turn fosters a broader sense of engagement at the community level.
KidzFirst is one of Canada’s newest vulnerable youth charities that support an inclusive, safe environment for vulnerable youth in at-risk communities, through the arts, activity and community service.
Winter 2016 @ The Loft at Earls Yaletown
PALS Autism Society. PALS Autism School is the first school in BC specializing in year round teaching of children with autism ages 5 through 19. In addition, PALS offers an affordable before and after school care program to allow families to remain at work throughout the day
Coast Mental Health assists people recovering from a serious mental illness. They operate in the Lower Mainland providing approximately 1,200 people with supportive housing and 3,500 clients living in the community with a wide variety of programs and services.
Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports runs skiing and snowboarding programs for persons with a disability at Grouse, Seymour and Cypress mountains. VASS delivers over 1,000 lessons per year to students with disabilities.
Fall 2016 @ Vancouver Rowing Club
Sole Foods Street Farms provides meaningful employment through production urban agriculture to individuals from the Downtown Eastside who are managing addiction, mental illness and material poverty. Sole Food operates four urban farms in the city, producing 50,000 lbs. of food annually and employing up to 25 people.
The Lipstick Project, with its army of volunteers, provides free, professional spa services to men, women and children who are facing significant healthcare challenges in local hospitals, hospices and care facilities.
The North Shore Stroke Recovery Centre helps its members to live with dignity and independence. They help them improve their speech and mobility, enhancing their quality of life by encouraging them to be partners in their own recovery through self-help.
Spring 2016 @ Blackbird Public House
Ronald McDonald House British Columbia provides welcoming accommodation for 2,000+ families a year at Ronald McDonald House BC and Yukon and Ronald McDonald Family Room. The sickest children, living the furthest from Vancouver and requiring the longest hospital stays are the children and families cared for every day at Ronald McDonald House BC.
BC Lung Association. For more than 100 years, the BC Lung Association has led the fight for healthy lungs and healthy air. They are the leading organization in British Columbia working to save lives, prevent and improve lung health through research, advocacy, education and support.
Chrysalis Society provides BC’s most vulnerable women, many from the Downtown Eastside, a specialized residential continuum of care for addiction and mental health. They’ve been providing services to women for the past 28 years.
Our First Event: Winter 2016 @ Mahoney & Sons
KidSport Vancouver. The KidSport concept was hatched in 1993 by board and staff at Sport BC as a way to help address the challenges faced by many families when registering their children in organized sport.
Power To Be Adventure Therapy inspires youth and families in need of support to discover their limitless abilities through nature-based programs. The organization envisions a community where the power of nature is accessible to everyone.
West Coast LEAF is the first and only organization in BC dedicated to promoting women’s equality through the law. West Coast LEAF and their sister organization LEAF have helped bring about some of the most important victories for women in Canada.
Have a charity that you'd like to nominate?
Take a look at our qualifying criteria, and if everything checks out, please send us your nomination using the form below.
Our qualifying criteria: 1. Must be a local charity and agree to use the money in our local community (Lower Mainland), 2. Must be a charity registered with the CRA for at least one year, 3. Must not have revenue exceeding $1mm, and 4. Must be nominated by an active Give a Damn participant.