History & Milestones
What we've accomplished together over the years.
2000 (January)
Kelly Mann, Patti Hunter, Alison Noble agree to tri-chair a group to form a KidSport Chapter in Victoria, at the request of Sport BC. KidSport Greater Victoria becomes the province of BC’s 10th chapter.
2000 (February)
A $5000 BC Summer Games Legacy donation is matched by a $5000 Victoria Foundation grant. This $10,000 provided the stability to kick off additional fundraising with a short-term aim to begin to give out grants to support local kids.
2000 (April)
The KidSport Greater Victoria chapter was officially launched, with media and local sport and recreation professionals on hand to celebrate. Silken Laumann was named the organization’s first Honorary Chair.
2001 (June)
Lindy Van Alstine chaired the inaugural grant committee made up of additional members Pete & Brenda Rushton, and Tom Woods. Budget was set at $1000 per month for the seven remaining months of the year. 52 boys and 32 girls were funded into soccer, hockey, gymnastics, karate, baseball, skating, football and swimming, with a total of $7020 during that period.
2001
BC Games Society Board generously agreed to provide administrative support to the Chapter, allowing for increased sophistication and growth.
2002 (May)
Launch of the KidSport Greater Victoria Golf Tournament, with proceeds shared 50/50 between KidSport GV and the local chapter of Promotion Plus for Girls and Women in Sport. Sue Keenan, Patti Hunter, Sandy Clarke, Erin Amos, Joan Wharf-Higgins, Heidi Lee, Alison Ducharme, Irene Schell and Irene Wallace served as the event's first committee, and Peninsula Co-op joined as the first corporate sponsor with a $1000 donation. That initial event netted $2670. To this day, the event happens on an annual basis – most recently at Cordova Bay Golf Course. Peninsula Co-op remains the event’s primary sponsor, and the event is one of three annual signature KidSport Greater Victoria fundraising events. Annually, fundraising proceeds from the event frequently net ~$25,000.
2002 (October)
Royal Victoria Marathon Race Director Rob Reid approached KidSport GV to manage the Thrifty Foods Kids Run. To date participation in the event has totaled over 15,500. KidSport Greater Victoria has been one of the official charities of the event for many years – proceeds to our organization from our connection to the Royal Victoria Marathon and Thrifty Foods Kids Run has totaled over $600,000 over the years!
2005
KidSport Greater Victoria is invited to be a charity of Golf for Kids. Murray Stewart and Dale Douglas have led this event since it began, and have generated outstanding fundraising results for child-serving charities in the area, including nearly $700,000 to support KidSport Greater Victoria’s work.
2009 (September)
It was determined that the size and sophistication of the organization required day to day support, and Patti Hunter became the chapter's General Manager, beginning in a one day a week role. Over the years this role has expanded to one full-time position, with a variety of Board, administrative and special events volunteers who continue to allow for the organization to maximize efficiency and impact.
2011
The local chapter of Promotion Plus for Girls was brought into the KidSport fold, to form KidSport Greater Victoria’s Active Girls Program. Proud to Play Like a Girl and Play if Forward awards continue to help even the playing field by offering additional funding opportunities to girls and those identifying as girls, related to sport and physical activity opportunities.
2013
KidSport Greater Victoria celebrates funding 5000 local children since 2001!
2017
Launch of the Jon Montgomery Pizza Pigout, an amazing gathering, celebration and fundraising event hosted at the Strath, that over three years raised over $170,000.
2020
Impact of COVID on organized sport opportunities was fast and significant. During this time while most events were paused, many donors continued to give generously and allowed us to support local kids with access to sport and physical activity in innovative ways through the sport shutdown period.
2021
Burpees for Charity, founded by Baylea Wilkins and Michelle Maynard, quickly became KidSport Greater Victoria's biggest-ever fundraiser and a demonstration of the power of individuals to connect with their networks and make an amazing impact! Over the last four years the event has raised over $550,000 and has helped us to reach over 1600 local kids to access sport.
2022
The beginning of a very steep increase in demand for help. Families are increasing seeing the benefits of involving their kids with organized sport, and are feeling greater financial strain than ever. Increases in the number of kids / funding requests of between 25% and 50% through 2022, 2023, 2024.
2025
Happy birthday to us! We are humbled and grateful to the many, many people who have helped us support over 17,000 local kids with access to a season of sport of their choice,
So ALL Kids Can Play!
"Thank you so much for the opportunity you have given my daughters to learn to dive. They light up when we are there, hard work, board and water work, then some swimming. This is an amazing class and they are loving it! Thank you! Thank you!" – Christa