CLICK Marks 10 Years of Supporting Vancouver's Inner City Kids
It all started in 2002 with a meeting of inner city educators and community activists at Queen Alexandra Elementary. The goal was to form a community-based charitable foundation that would support the wide range of programs that make a daily difference to children and youth living in poverty in Vancouver. Everyone around the table saw a serious need - because too many kids were falling through the cracks due to poverty.
In 2004, CLICK (Contributing to Lives of Inner City Kids) was officially launched.
Ten years later, CLICK co-founder and president Catherine Atyeo says she wishes organizations like CLICK weren't needed - but with BC having the highest child poverty rate in Canada, at-risk kids in Vancouver still need support. Since 2004, CLICK has directed approximately a quarter of a million dollars to more than 150 programs that provide critical support to Vancouver's inner city kids.
"It's truly inspiring to see what a difference these programs - and in particular the leaders and mentors who run them - make in the lives of inner city kids. They are a key part of these kids having the opportunities and self-confidence that can help them eventually break out of the poverty cycle," says Atyeo.
CLICK is run totally by a 12-member volunteer board so its administration costs are typically only 5% a year (taking into account in-kind donations such as a meeting space, accounting and printing). This means 95% of a donation to CLICK goes straight to programs helping kids in need.
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