By Greg Douglas – Dr. Sport
SCENE & HEARD: Racing fans might be hearing a certain “clicking” sound emanating from the Marquee area at Hastings Racecourse this afternoon. That’s because the community-based charitable foundation CLICK will be on hand raising funds … CLICK as in Contributing to Lives of Inner City Kids.
Once again Hastings Racecourse is offering a helping hand in support of non-profit organizations in the Hastings-Sunrise and Vancouver area through its “Community Days at the Track” program.
Each year a selection committee chooses designated organizations to receive exclusive use of the Marquee area on a live race day to raise funds through ticket sales and 50/50 draws. To top it all off, the package includes a $1,500 catering donation and a $5,000 monetary donation with Hastings Racecourse General Manager & Director, BC Racing Darren MacDonald overseeing the project.
Little wonder, then, the selection committee receives more and more applications every year and as a result it gets increasingly difficult to select the successful candidates.
“We encourage those groups that didn’t make this year’s list to apply again next year,” says program co-ordinator Brandi Martin from Hastings’ Human Resources “Our mandate is to accommodate as many organizations as possible.”
CLICK kicks things off today as board members continue to raise funds for inner city children requiring support in the basic needs of life, including providing access to opportunities in their quest to fulfill goals and dreams.
The other non-profit organizations selected to participate in 2018 ‘Community Days at the Track” include APEAH serving the Francophone community in East Vancouver (May 12), Forest and the Femme Society, an outdoor recreation program for highly marginalized women living in Vancouver’s DTES community (May 27), Theatre Replacement Society that collaborates with artists of diverse histories in East Vancouver (June 3), New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society dedicated to finding adoptive homes and new careers for former thoroughbred race horses (June 10), Pacifica Treatment Centre Society that promotes health and recovery from addictions through treatment and education (Sept. 9), Health and Home Care Society of BC (Care BC) (Sept. 16), Dress for Success Vancouver that empowers women from all backgrounds into the workforce (Sept. 23), Pride in Art Society (Sept. 22) and the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre (Sept. 30).