Welcome to the BGC Winnipeg Newsletter, your source for news and events to help shape a better tomorrow for children and youth in Winnipeg!
Important Club News
Due to increased costs without a corresponding increase in funding, we are facing a significant deficit that must be addressed to ensure the long-term viability of our services. After careful consideration and planning, we have decided to combine our service locations beginning in September. This measure will help us reduce operational costs while continuing to provide our programs without the need for closures.
The key points of this plan:
- Combining Service Locations: We will be consolidating some of our service locations. This change is necessary to streamline our operations and reduce overhead costs. By doing so, we can allocate resources more efficiently and maintain the high quality of our programs.
- Minimum Operation of Two Days per Week: All sites will operate a minimum of two days per week. This schedule will ensure that we maintain a strong presence in each community we serve and continue to offer our programs consistently.
- Continuity in Club and Programs: By combining locations, we will be able to preserve the continuity of our Clubs and programs. Our goal is to provide a seamless experience for all members, allowing them to benefit from the same high-quality programs they are accustomed to.
- Maintaining Program Quality: Despite these changes, our commitment to delivering excellent programs remains unwavering. We will continue to focus on providing enriching experiences and valuable resources to our community members.
We believe that by consolidating our locations and optimizing our operations, we can continue to make a positive impact in our communities while addressing our financial challenges. Together, we will navigate these changes and continue to provide exceptional services to our community.
Hot Sauce: Summer in the City
This year’s Hot Sauce event was held on Thursday, June 6th at Kum Koon Garden. Attendees enjoyed a delicious Chinese meal and the comedy stylings of Big Daddy Tazz and special guests Kenny Valgardson and Chad Anderson.
Together, we raised an incredible $93,000 to help offset our increased nutrition costs for the CSI Summer Learning Program! A huge thank you to our sponsors and attendees who make this event such a success! Your support helps us combat summer learning loss for Winnipeg kids.
100 Mile Dinner
This year’s 100 Mile Dinner event presented by WOW! Hospitality and WOW! Catering will be held on Sunday, September 29th at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Using fresh, seasonal, and locally-grown food found within 100 miles of Winnipeg, the evening will feature a gourmet selection of mouth-watering dishes by some of the city's most notable chefs:
- Luc Jean – WOW! Catering
- Östen Rice – 529 Uptown
- Edward Lam – Yujiro
- Kristal Pastorin – The Grove
- Christa Guenther – Feast Café Bistro
- Fraser MacLeod – 529 Wellington
- Mandel Hitzer – Deer + Almond
- Doug Stephen – DL Restaurant Group
All proceeds from this fundraiser will fund a variety of after-school, educational, and leadership activities that allow children and youth the opportunity to discover and achieve their highest potential.
Interested in sponsoring? Email us at support@bgcwinnipeg.ca
Summer Highlights
Clean Machine, our summer employment program for youth ages 12-18, is making a positive impact! Funded by the City of Winnipeg, this program offers young people the chance to gain valuable work experience while performing essential tasks in our community. We had an overwhelming response this year with over 50 applicants and provided many of the 25 youth hired with their first ever job experience.
Youth Leadership Circle, our summer leadership program funded by Jays Care Foundation and Graham C. Lount Family Foundation, promotes community engagement and skill-building for youth, providing them with the opportunity to learn life skills in a supportive environment while collaborating with their communities. Each youth that completes a total of 60 hours receives a stipend to put towards back to school supplies. This year, youth were able to build their resumes by volunteering at organizations like IRCOM, Main Street Project and Harvest Winnipeg. They even raised money through bake sales and lemonade stands to donate to Cancer Care Foundation. "If it wasn't for Youth Leadership Circle, I could not have experienced this amazing chance of becoming a better leader".
The CSI Summer Learning Program is an enrichment initiative aimed at combating summer learning loss and narrowing the opportunity gap. This program offers five weeks of free summer activities in a safe and nurturing environment. This summer, CSI welcomed 639 children from 14 schools within the Winnipeg School Division.
A highlight of the summer was the annual Jumpstart Games Day on July 25. Children from all 12 CSI sites gathered at Sinclair Park Community Centre to enjoy a day filled with fun activities and a delicious BBQ lunch. A heartfelt thank you to Winnipeg Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark’s Work Warehouse, Atmosphere, PartSource, and all their volunteers for making this event a fantastic success!
Host a Fundraiser
Fundraising with friends, family, and colleagues is an opportunity to create memories and have fun doing it – all for a good cause! It takes just a few minutes to start fundraising for Winnipeg’s youth. CanadaHelps make the process of fundraising easy! It provides ideas, event management tips and online functionality to set up personalized fundraising event pages for partner charities like BGC Winnipeg. Set up a one-stop shop related to your fundraising event, allowing potential donors to learn about the event and cause, track progress towards meeting fundraising goals, send messages of support and of course, to make an online donation!
Learn more on how to set up your individual BGC Winnipeg fundraising page.
Please do not hesitate to contact us at support@bgcwinnipeg.ca with any questions you may have about fundraising, or for assistance setting up your personalized page. We are here to help!