Members of the Foundation for VPS Board of Directors and honorary Community Champions Council recently hosted an event to thank Community Champion supporters and to celebrate a milestone achievement.
The Community Champions Circle recognizes contributors of $5,000 or more in a year and/or pledged support of $10,000 or more over three years. Since the Foundation for VPS started Community Champions in 2016, these leaders have collectively committed $2.4 million toward building a brighter future for Vancouver’s children.
Support from Community Champions funds direct support for students: removing barriers to learning and providing enrichment to students’ school experience.
During the event, three inaugural Champions received recognition; iQ Credit Union, The Firstenburg Foundation, and Mark Matthias & Beaches Summertime Cruisin. The three organizations embraced the Community Schools Initiative vision early on and continue to inspire others to come forward so that collectively we could help more Vancouver students.
Skyview’s orchestra students performed and members of the National Honor Society led guests through an interactive game demonstrating how donations to the Foundation for VPS support basic needs, enrichment, housing stability, parent engagement, early learning, mentoring, and family engagement.
A high school senior shared a very personal story on how her life was transformed thanks to her high school’s Family-Community Resource Center saying, “I was walking the path laid out for me by poverty, but one day in my freshman year, I walked into the FCRC with a friend. The FCRC is a safe, respectful place where we can be ourselves and ask for what we need. We deserve to have the resources we need to be successful. ”
Thank you to all of the Community Champions who helped make this milestone possible. Together, we want to ensure that all students come to school ready to learn and have access to positive experiences that help them thrive in school & out.
