When VDL was just a baby, the Fraserview Boys and Girls Club on Victoria Drive was the site that hosted our first tournaments and drop-ins. It was here that we developed the game and built our very first VDL family. We are proud to say that family has grown a lot bigger since but we will never forget where it all started. We appreciate the organization’s dedication to providing a safe and supportive place where children and youths can overcome barriers, build positive relationships and develop confidence and skills for life.
As a result of a successful Tournament of Champions – VDL is proud to announce that a VERY generous donation has been given to the Boys and Girls Clubs. A big thank-you to everyone for participating in the tournament and see you again next year!
The thank-you letter below from the Boys and Girls Club is what YOU have made possible! Amazing!
Thank you so much for the Vancouver Dodgeball League’s very generous gift of $10,000 raised through your Tournament of Champions! What an amazing donation!
At BGC, what drives everything we do is the knowledge and belief that every kid is amazing. At our 12 neighbourhood-based Clubs, our people – cool, young mentors and role models – bond with kids by really seeing and hearing them. They use activities – sports, homework clubs, creative arts, healthy food and cooking programs, leadership development and safe access to the online world – as tools to connect with kids. The result? Kids choose to belong here.
In addition to Clubs, we run a wilderness summer camp (Camp Potlatch), substance abuse services for youth, youth and family counselling, employment services, and early years and parent programs. As a society, we collectively worry about kids going off track, and our work is the antidote for that. What we’ve learned is that when a kid’s ‘amazingness’ is hard to see, it is because of their experiences and/or circumstances. So, when kids do belong to BGC and they are seen and heard, the likelihood of gang and crime involvement, dropping out of school, accidental injuries, substance use/abuse, and social isolation is dramatically reduced because virtually everything that kids need during the critical out-of-school hours (i.e. the times when kids’ trips to Emergency and crime involving youth spikes) happens here.
Your very generous gift will help support our ongoing sports programs so we can help produce a few new dodgeball stars for your league!
From all of us at Boys and Girls Clubs, thank you for all you do to support kids in your community!
Take care,
Marcie Mark
Director, Resource Development