Blog

Over the month of December, the CBT worked alongside 20 local charities to raise funds for our most critical needs. Donors answered the call to stand together to strengthen our communities and ecosystems and together we raised $42,675. These gifts of all sizes will have a collective impact in a region that means so much to us all.

As the social and economic implications of the pandemic continue, community-serving non-profits are struggling to keep up with the increased need for responsive services and programming while facing significantly lower revenues than typical years. The CBT is proud to announce 5 diverse community projects receiving $30K in funding from Round 2 of the Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) from the Government of Canada, via the CBT. In total, $70K has been granted from the ECSF. Check out the list of organizations and projects who have received funding here!

We are thrilled to announce the fall round of Neighbourhood Small Grants, a diverse range of inspiring and compassionate project ideas enabling residents to take care of each other while protecting the health and safety of all community members.

We’ve wrapped up our COVID-19 Responsive Neighbourhood Small Grants (R-NSG) and couldn’t be more proud of our west coast communities! The 4 months since we launched the program have been a wild and unpredictable ride, but west coasters have come together to support each other— while maintaining physical distancing— in many inspiring and innovative ways.

This week, Community Foundations of Canada launched a Guidebook and Toolkit to help Canada's 191 Community Foundations—and all the communities they support—find bolder, creative and innovative ways to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. CBT research director, Laura Loucks, helped author a case study on p. 29 about our organization's dual role as a community foundation and UNESCO Biosphere Region.

On Giving Tuesday Now (May 5th) CBT launched the Community COVID-19 Response Giving Catalogue, a place where west coast registered charities and not-for-profits share current and emerging needs with people who want to help. We are excited to announce that we have met our $30,000 for local organizations!

If you walk by the CBT office at 316 Main Street later this week, you may notice the red dresses hanging in the front window. The simple and elegant dresses are adorned with black silhouetted feathers and bring awareness to the staggering amount of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) across Canada, but especially those from our community.

Through May and June 2020, CBT assisted with the local delivery of the Government of Canada's Emergency Community Support Fund, which provides much-needed assistance to charities and non-profit organizations serving vulnerable populations during COVID-19.

We are excited to announce that the 2020 Biosphere Research Award will help support a large research collaboration to better understand juvenile Chinook salmon survival and growth during their first year of life in the freshwater and marine environments of West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI).

The R-NSG program has received a strong response from our communities and we're excited to announce the first round of funded projects!

It's #NationalVolunteerWeek and we want to lift up the incredible volunteers who propel CBT forward as a community-driven organization.

We're so grateful for all the amazing community members who are taking on a Neighbourhood Small Grant project this year This blog post includes a list of all the funded projects, the organizers, the approximate dates, and a summary of the project in the organizers' words. Make sure to check out what events are happening in your neighbourhood!

This summer, Ucluelet Secondary School student Toby Theriault participated in the 2019 Students on Ice Arctic Expedition. Check out her reflections and a short video!

Roberta Tom is a Tla-o-qui-aht community leader who participated in the 2017-2018 Leadership Vancouver Island cohort. Read about her leadership journey here!

Michelle Hall lives in Tofino and is a member of the 2017-2018 Leadership Vancouver Island cohort. Read her reflections about the program here.