Lighting up Butchart Gardens
Butchart Gardens has been a very important part of our community for over 100 years and when many tourists think of Victoria they almost always connect the city with that incredible creation by Jennie Butchart. Of course, they have special events year round but one that resonates with family, particularly at this time of year, is the Christmas Light Up ceremony on December 1st. This year three youngsters from our Central Saanich Club were invited to pull the switch. Denaya, Ethan and Cassidy were so excited that the count down from 10 was rapidly accelerated as they began pulling the lever down before Dave Cowen, the General Manager, could get to 1! Thank you, Dave and Daphne Gardner for inviting us to part of this magical event!

BGC Supports the United Way

Since 1990, we have held an internal campaign each year to raise funds for the United Way. In that time, we have raised over $99,000! Annually we set our goal for staff participation, and over the past three years, we have successfully increased our percentage of participation each year! This year, our theme was Space Agents of Change and our staff enjoyed fun secret agent and space themed activities. We are grateful for the funds that we receive from the United Way, and are glad to support such a great agency.

CHPP Support from the Community

We are excited to announce three more sources of support for CHPP! Through BCAA's Road Safety Foundation, we received car seats which will assist us with transporting participants and their babies within the community. We also received a very generous contribution of hair cuts from The Fix Hair Garage for the new and expectant mothers, a luxury that wouldn't be afforded otherwise. Finally, CHPP was awarded a Fare Advantage Grant from General Mills, administered by our National BGC office, which will enhance our nutrition programming for youth allowing us to purchase equipment for the kitchen, food and cooking supplies, and  learning resources such as cook books. It will also allow us to create special events, sponsor field trips, bring in guest speakers, recruit volunteers for child minding, and train staff.

Bikes for Kids! 

While it wasn't Bike to Work Week, October felt like Bikes for Kids Month! Four lucky participants, at our Millstream and Central Saanich Clubs received bikes this month. Three bikes came from The Corporate Play People through a Bike Build Adventure workshop they held for SeaStar Chemicals, and one bike came from kind and thoughtful community member Erica Williams. 10 year old "Janet", 5 year old "Brody", 15 year old "Steve" and 12 year old "Sally" were all incredibly excited to receive the bikes and we are grateful for the community's support in enriching the lives of the children and youth that we serve.

CARF Accreditation Update

We are pleased to announce that we have been granted another three year accreditation by CARF International. Three peer surveyors spent 3 days reviewing what we do and how we do it. They covered a multitude of areas, all with the intent of assisting us with improving the quality of the programs and services that we provide. In their final report CARF detailed 20 areas of strength but this one was identified as one of our greatest: "Leadership has worked diligently to build relationships to bring together individuals to help solve community problems and develop programs that improve the quality of life for youth in their communities. This is one of the organization's greatest strengths, reiterated by external stakeholders interviewed." We owe a huge thank you to all of our staff, Board volunteers and Leadership team for their strong commitment to making Boys & Girls Clubs 'a good place to be'!