On Monday, October 30 was officially proclaimed BC Non-Profit Day by the Government of British Columbia, “to celebrate the non-profit sector, and create deeper understanding of the people and communities that non-profits support” and to “recognize the dedication of staff and volunteer who work each day to strengthen our communities”.
Did you know that there are approximately 31,000 non-profits in BC, ranging from community, business and government organizations? Government non-profits includes hospitals and education institutions like public school boards, universities and colleges. Business non-profits include professional, member and business associations like chambers of commerce. The community non-profits vary from small, completely volunteer run organizations to those that have staff teams. At the core, all non-profits still have volunteers that ensure the organization is able to function. At minimum, this would be the volunteer Directors that sit on the Board and most often it is volunteers that help at additional levels, including program and service delivery.
BC’s non-profits deliver services that include health support to seniors, childcare programs, food security, recreation, arts, housing, emergency response activities, religion, environment, Indigenous-led programs – and much more. The sector also contributes $28 billion to the provincial government and is a grassroots response to the socio-economic issues increasingly facing individuals and families across BC. KCR Community Resources is proud to be a part of this critical sector, offering services to build the social fabric of our community by addressing gaps and needs both proactively and responsively as they arise. If you are wondering how your daily life is impacted by non-profits, think about some of the things that would be missing from your life, or not accessible, if volunteers and non-profits weren’t part of ensuring these programs existed.
KCR maintains a database of community resources that are largely non-profit led that offer all kinds of services and supports. Check it out online at https://kelowna.cioc.ca. If you are needing help to connect with some of these services, feel free to reach out to us at 250-763-8008 or info@kcr.ca.
In marking BC’s first Non-Profit Recognition day, the province also made the announcement of $60 million dollars from the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction in funding for non-profit organizations that will be distributed by the Vancouver Foundation, with Premier David Eby remarking that “the work done by our province’s non-profits reflects some of the most important ways British Columbians show up for each other in tough times.”