YMCA Partnership

YMCA receives major sponsorship in support of Beyond the Bell program

Oct 26, 2020 | 2:34 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Monday morning, the announcement came as a revealing to a major sponsorship with Enbridge in support of YMCA’s Beyond the Bell program.

With the announcement, Enbridge, one of Northern America’s leading energy infrastructure companies, has committed to providing the program with $85,000 over the course of three years; a major contribution to a program that had their current funding end back in June.

“It’s basically everything you’d want your child to have after the school bell rings,” explained Amanda Alexander, CEO at YMCA of Northern BC. “It’s about academic support, some nutritional supplement, and recreation, the ability to connect also with peers. The children in this program have increased their grade level by over a year each time they attend the program, so it has amazing outcomes for these children in the long-term.”

“I’m born and raised in Prince George. I have kids of my own, and a lot of us live here and work here. We just want to give back to the community and support the kids,” said Rikki Beaudet, Community Indigenous Engagement Advisor with Enbridge.

While the contribution certainly helps the program, without question. YMCA’s Beyond the Bell is a 100 per cent philanthropically funded program and is still facing a financial shortfall for this school year.

“We’ve been able to get some additional support from the Vancouver Foundation, and from Canadian Tire, but we have a shortfall of $13,000 for the rest of the school year,” said Alexander. “We’ve been running a fundraising campaign and asking anyone who cans step up to support this very important program. 30 children attend, and that’s a huge outcome for the children. It costs about $2,000 a child, and we know if a child doesn’t graduate than that cost is exponential.”

For more information, or to donate to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, you can visit the YMCA of Northern BC website.