RCRG - Blog - An Unforgettable Experience
Did you know?
More than 100 young leaders have graduated from the Youth Now program.
Each year, over 100 non-profit professionals attend our training opportunities.
Over two dozen non-profit organizations have participated in the Youth Now program.
The CCRR provides nearly 400 child care referrals per year.
On average, the CCRR hosts 30 workshops and training courses each year.
Every year, over 500 child care providers and parents attend CCRR training opportunities.
Every year, RCRG completes over 3,000 grocery orders for local seniors.
Nearly 300 seniors make use of our Better at Home services.
Our volunteer drivers complete more than 1,200 trips annually.
At least 350 people per year find a volunteer position using our Volunteer Match program.
Close to 500 volunteers support RCRG’s programs and services.
Volunteers contribute nearly 23,000 hours to our organization each year.
Each holiday season, the Richmond Christmas Fund helps more than 2,200 low-income residents.
Every year, the Christmas Fund provides over 600 children with toys, books, and sports equipment.
The Richmond Christmas Fund was first started by Ethel Tibbits, in the 1930s.
The number of Neighbourhood Small Grants we’ve awarded has increased every year since 2014.
Block parties are the most popular type of Neighbourhood Small Grant project.
Every year, the Richmond Women’s Resource Centre serves over 7,300 local women.
The Richmond Women’s Resource Centre currently offers 16 programs and services.
Nearly 60 volunteers support the Richmond Women’s Resource Centre, contributing nearly 2,500 hours per year.
Richmond is home to over 350 registered charities, all of which rely on volunteer support.
There are nearly 13 million volunteers across Canada.
International Volunteer Day is celebrated throughout the world on December 5.
There are 35 volunteer centres in British Columbia.
In 2016, the Foundation awarded 10 grants to non-profit organizations, worth a combined $59,000.
The Foundation manages $6 million in 60 Forever Funds, returning, on average, CPI plus 4%.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Foundation distributed $656,000 in grants, scholarships, charitable disbursements, and Emergency Community Support Funds.
Foundation activities result in the enhancement of our community and residents’ sense of belonging.
ROCA has raised over $21,000 for local charities.
ROCA has performed its Elementary School Concert Series to over 8,000 students.
ROCA provides mentoring and life changing opportunities for aspiring musicians.
The Richmond Arts Coalition was founded in November of 2005.
RAC co-produces the ArtRich exhibition every two years!
RAC highlights Richmond's arts events in a monthly email.
The Richmond Music School is the oldest not-for-profit music school in Richmond.
The Richmond Music School offers affordable music lessons through its diverse programming.
Our students performed 40 hours of music to welcome the Olympic athletes to the 2010 Olympic Games.
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RCRG Blog

An Unforgettable Experience

Published July 08, 2020

The final entry in our series of blog posts documenting the 2019-20 Youth Now program comes courtesy of Hailey Wang, a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers who served as a board member with the West Richmond Community Association.

Hailey's post highlights a sentiment shared by all of this year's participants: while the pandemic interrupted the program, and posed considerable challenges, it also helped bring Hailey and her fellow youth leaders together. Their experience was enhanced, and made more memorable, because they learned to be community leaders in the midst of a community crisis.


Youth Now is truly a unique program where I got to meet an amazing group of peers, mentors, and leaders in the Richmond community. 
 
Conferences
The various conferences were all very well organized and also provided relevant content beyond just board participation. I learned valuable interpersonal and communication skills that I can immediately apply to workplace situations as I step into a leadership role. Surprisingly, some aspects of the knowledge can even be applied to our day-to-day life at home and even proved to be helpful as I dealt with my toddler!
 
The speakers were very passionate about their work and were inspirations to the youth leaders as role models, showing what we can do in the community to make a greater impact. They were very generous in sharing their insights and encouraged discussions to make the topics relatable. The board mentors in attendance also commented that although they had attended the same conference more than once, they were still learning new things every time.
 
Windows of Hope
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the 2019 Windows of Hope event at the Richmond Auto Mall last Christmas. The group of youth leaders got together and completed an entire window display with creativity and teamwork, and had lots of fun while doing it. It was a special memory for all of us and really helped the group bond over something meaningful.
 
Board Participation
I was fortunate to be part of the board at the West Richmond Community Association. The board meetings were well organized and structured, and the board members were all very welcoming. I sat in board meetings to listen to the various aspects of operating a non-profit and the different types of discussions that go on at board meetings. It was definitely a steep learning curve at first, but was nevertheless the best way for anyone to learn about non-profit boards because of the amount of exposure. I am also very appreciative of the time my mentor put in to make sure I had a good understanding of the different programs at the community centre, as well as ongoing projects. He was always available to answer my questions.
 
Youth Leaders
Due to COVID-19, this year's program has definitely seen some major changes, to say the least. But I am very happy to have met an amazing group of youth leaders and I am very proud of the group to have pulled through despite the various challenges. Current events posed unexpected twists to our program, but that's what made this year so unique. The group worked with our limitations and really made the best of it by being extremely flexible, accommodating, and supportive of each other. Even though these unforeseen challenges were not a part of the curriculum, they are definitely the things that made my experience so memorable.

Leadership Richmond - Youth Now is funded by the Government of Canada's Canada Service Corps and Coast Capital Savings.