The pandemic has claimed a local non-profit that helps children and families in town.
Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver has shuttered the Big Brothers Big Sisters Sea to Sky Corridor offices and halted programming.
"This closure is due to the substantial negative financial impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the organization," says a May 27 news release from the organization, which matches mentors with youth who may not have all the guidance they need.
The organization has suffered an 80% loss in revenue, the release states.
Primary sources of funding for the federation come from donations, events, clothing donation initiatives, and government grants. "Because of the pandemic, each of the funding sources would collapse in the space of mere weeks due to shift in funding priorities from granters, the cancellation of the annual Bowl for Big Brothers event, and suspension of the clothing donation operation," the release states.
The organization has served Squamish to Whistler since the early 2000s and the closure of the local chapter will impact 155 children and families.
A total of four staff were laid off.
"We are doing our best to meet the needs of existing community matches. Unfortunately, we just don't have the financial means to keep the Sea to Sky programming going at this time," said Valerie Lambert, Executive director of Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver in the release. "We are proud to have served the communities and we hope we are able to serve families in Squamish and Whistler in the future as we re-evaluate our programs and impacts from COVID-19. We aim to still serve our core Big Brothers Big Sisters program with the support of our staff in the Vancouver office."
To learn more about the organization or donate, go to www.bigbrothersvancouver.com/covid-19-response/.
