Welcome to the Winter 2018 issue of our newsletter. It has been a tremendous year for the BCHF, both in terms of the assistance we’ve given to hospitality workers in need and in regards to achieving our fundraising and organizational goals. We’re so grateful for the support we’ve received from individuals and businesses over the years that enabled us to reach the impressive milestone of $1 million given away since our inception. It really was a banner year!
Our core mission is to assist hospitality workers and their families, and as of this writing we’ve helped more than 30 people with over $90,000 in 2018 alone – and applications continue to arrive. Examples include:
- A server who was thrown from a taxi that took off before she got all the way into the car
- A very young restaurant worker who, while losing her 2ndbattle with cancer, was also dealing with losing her eyesight
- Several hotel employees facing cancer, organ failure, MS, mental illness, and amputations
We want to ensure we can continue helping others in the future, however, so we’ve also been taking steps to strengthen our organization so we can meet the challenges we face as a 21st century charity.
BCHF’s Board and industry advisors met several times this year to create a strategic plan for the next 10 years. They developed a handy one-page document we can use to facilitate meetings and guide us in goal planning. Highlights include:
- In the next five years, becoming a charity that generates $750,000 per year
- Increasing our investment account to $1 million in the next 10 years in order to assure our longevity
- Creating a brand identity and raising our profile: our marketing committee has already met a few times to create a plan to meet our goal of being a charity that’s widely recognized and respected throughout BC
With these foundation stones in place, we feel confident we’ll be able to continue to grow in a sustainable way, and to keep helping people in need for many years to come.