Together We Are Better

In 2017, Vancouver Foundation released research that revealed that people are feeling disconnected from community life and that many of their relationships struggled to get beyond small talk. Solving social isolation is complicated and developing meaningful friendships does take time. It takes a little courage to reach out, but one thing’s for sure; everyone appreciates an invite!

We’re here to help you have a more purposeful gathering — one where everyone leaves feeling uplifted with a deeper sense of belonging — and that might even help grow your ideas into action.

The format is a simple idea, but a profound one. Each host will talk about the issues and ideas they are drawn to or are curious to learn more about. The topics people discuss will be collected and shared—giving us an exciting snapshot of what’s on people’s minds throughout BC right now. It’s a fun, meaningful opportunity for people everywhere to meet, gather, and share, in turn fostering healthy and connected communities across the province.

The role of a host is an important one in our society, one that a lot of us have lost touch with as lives get busier. When you welcome someone to your space, when your arms are open in this way, it’s a public service that we all benefit from. Yes, there are natural hosts, but all of us can do it.

Hilary Henegar, Duncan BC

Event Recap

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Our Partnership Program

Neighbourhood Small Grants logo

Since 1999, Vancouver Foundation has championed a way for people to effect change in their community through small grants available to individuals. The ripple effect of these grants — supporting all types of projects from book exchanges and community benches to virtual karaoke and a service to fix computers for those in need — tells us that the best people to create welcoming, inclusive and connected communities are the ones within them.

Purposeful conversations, like those fostered through On the Table, often result in inspiring ideas. Neighbourhood Small Grants is a supportive grass-roots granting program to help go a step further and bring those ideas to life!

Visit NeighbourhoodSmallGrants.ca
Kevin McCort

Through On the Table, we’ve created a catalyst and platform for people across the province to connect within their own communities.

Kevin McCort

Community Inspired

Since 1943, Vancouver Foundation has been community inspired—connecting the generosity of donors with the energy, ideas, and time of people in communities across BC.

2018 marked our 75th anniversary, and we wanted our celebration to be about something bigger than us. That’s why we launched On the Table, an initiative powered by Vancouver Foundation and created by the community.  It was such a powerful opportunity for people to have a reason to come together, face to face, that we decided to continue the initiative to encourage a movement of connection across the province.

It’s a natural project for us to be part of. Vancouver Foundation works to build healthy, vibrant, livable communities across BC—and helping people make social connections is a big part of that.

On the Table for Organizations

Many events have taken place within organizations and workplace environments. For some, this provided a unique opportunity to bond and share thoughts with colleagues around personal topics otherwise not discussed in a professional setting, while for others, it offered a branded vessel to convene a more diverse audience, giving stakeholders an opportunity to prioritize what is important and look for solutions.

  • 4sprouts
  • Abundant Vancouver
  • ADAPS Services for Youth and Families
  • Adler University
  • Age Knowble
  • Amica Mature Lifestyles
  • Applied Bio-nomics Ltd.
  • Artee Screen Print
  • ASPECT BC
  • Atangard Community Project
  • Aunt Leah’s Place
  • AVC Management Inc.
  • Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion
  • Ballet BC
  • Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
  • BC Alliance for Arts + Culture
  • BC Association of Family Resource Programs
  • BC Council for Families
  • BCICF
  • BeatRoute Magazine
  • Beckman’s Fine Foods
  • Bentall Kennedy Group
  • Bliss Cremation and Green Burial Services
  • Bloom Communications
  • Breakthrough Energy Alliance
  • British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society
  • Bubble Tea Vancouver
  • Burnaby Community Services
  • Burnaby Family Place Society
  • Burnaby Public Library Cameron Branch
  • Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-BC
  • Canadian Evaluation Society – BC Chapter
  • Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
  • Canadian Red Cross
  • Canuck Place Children’s Hospice
  • Careteam Technologies
  • Cascadia Rail
  • Catfish Shorts
  • Cause+Affect
  • CBT
  • Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House
  • CedarWonder
  • Cerebral Palsy Association of BC & HART Project
  • Chambar Restaurant
  • Changemakers Vancouver / BIPOC Institute
  • Check Your Head – The Global Youth Education Network
  • Chelsea Crafters Guild
  • Cicely Blain Consulting
  • City Centre Community Association
  • City Of Maple Ridge
  • City Opera Vancouver
  • CityHive
  • Clark Wilson LLP
  • Clayoquot Biosphere Trust
  • Collingwood Neighbourhood House
  • Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy
  • Columbia Performing Arts Society
  • Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society
  • Community Cooking
  • Community Development Institute at UNBC
  • Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies
  • Community Foundation of the North Okanagan
  • Community Foundation South Okanagan Similkameen
  • Community Legacy
  • Community Living British Columbia
  • Company of Disciples
  • Cowichan Intercultural Society
  • Creative BC
  • Creative Community Life Foundation
  • Creative Pulse
  • Crossroads Community Meal
  • Culture Chats BC Association
  • Cumberland Place Community
  • DCN Consulting
  • DDA
  • Denman Conservancy Association
  • Design Build Research
  • Developmental Disabilities Association
  • Diana
  • Diversity CLUES Consulting
  • Dog Park Garden
  • Downtown PoCo BIA
  • Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation
  • Drawing Thanks
  • DTES Small Arts Grants Program
  • Dunbar Village Community Services Society
  • Easy Italian Food Cooking
  • Edward Milne Community School, SD#62
  • Elkford Community Fund
  • Elysian Projects
  • EMBERS Eastside Works
  • Empower.Mom
  • Environmental Law Centre
  • Excel Student Solutions
  • Executive Director
  • Face of Today Foundation
  • Fairware Promotional Products
  • Family Services of Greater Vancouver
  • Farrington Cove Strata
  • Fernie Chautauqua
  • First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
  • Four Worlds International Institute
  • Franklin Community Gospel Church
  • Fraser Health
  • Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association
  • Fresh Roots
  • Friends of the Grove/ Cedar Bark Poets
  • Frontier Law
  • Gather Together
  • Georgia Strait Alliance
  • Girl Guides of Canada – BC Council
  • Gold River Secondary School
  • Gordon Neighbourhood House
  • Great Lakes Networking Society of BC
  • Greenways Land Trust
  • Grist Mill and Gardens Historic Site
  • Growing Chefs!
  • Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’Xw School, Division 4
  • H.E.R.S. Victoria Foundation
  • HAO
  • Happy City
  • HCMA
  • Helene Rasmussen
  • Hereg
  • Heritage Abbotsford
  • Hive & House
  • Hogan’s Alley Society
  • Hoovie
  • HopeFirst
  • hua foundation
  • Hunny-Do Ranch
  • Hypha
  • Independent Living Vernon Society
  • indigenEYEZ
  • InWithForward Canada Inc.
  • Island Mountain Arts
  • Italian Cultural Centre
  • Japanese Community Volunteers Association
  • Jariya Jaroensuk
  • Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver
  • JNJ Business Strategies Inc.
  • Just Food Foundation
  • Kamloops Society for Community Inclusion
  • Kasela Palu Group
  • KCR Community Resources Society
  • Keeferstreet
  • Kelowna Art Gallery Association
  • Kenyan Community in British Columbia Society (KenBC)
  • Kinghaven Peardonville House Society
  • Kits neighborhood house
  • Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
  • Kootenay Dirt Riders Association
  • Kootenay Society for LifeLong Learning
  • Kudoz
  • Langley Environmental Partners Society
  • Langley Meadows Community Association
  • Langley Poverty Reduction Committee
  • Langley School District Foundation
  • Law Needs Feminism Because -TRU Chapter
  • Little Mountain Neighbourhood House
  • Lori Faulkner
  • Lower Similkameen Community Services Society
  • Lynnmour Community Engagment Committee
  • Magnetic North Theatre Festival
  • Maple Ridge Community Foundation
  • Marpole Neighbourhood House
  • Mary Cridge Manor
  • Matchstick Coffee Inc
  • Matchstick Marijuana
  • McCreary Centre Society
  • Migrante BC
  • Montrose Development Ltd
  • Mothers Matter Centre
  • Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House
  • Mount Waddington Community Food Initiative
  • Mountain Hub
  • Murray Paterson Marketing Group
  • Museum of Vancouver
  • Nada Grocery
  • Nanaimo Foodshare
  • Naviond
  • NDP
  • Nestworks Workplace Society
  • New Westminster Family Place
  • NONA Child Development Centre
  • North Thompson communities Foundation
  • North Vancouver City Library
  • Nusa Coffee
  • Oaklands Community Association
  • Oakridge Senior Society
  • Obabika
  • Okanagan Child and Youth Services Ltd.
  • Okanagan Indian Band
  • Oliver LINCOLN Classroom
  • One Straw Society
  • Options Community Services Society
  • Or Shalom Synagogue
  • Out-Smarts
  • OUTspoken
  • Pacific Restaurant Supply
  • Parksville Qualicum Community Foundation
  • Pathways Serious Mental Illness Society
  • Patients in Education
  • PayByPhone
  • Peachland Wellness Centre
  • Persephone Brewing Company
  • PH&N Investment Management
  • Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management
  • Phoenix Foundation of the Boundary Communities
  • Pinoy Pride Vancouver
  • Populous Map
  • Port Moody Foundation
  • Port Moody Heritage Society
  • Port Moody Station Museum
  • Pride in Art Society
  • Privare
  • PRØHBTD Media
  • Promerita
  • Promise Vancouver
  • Public Disco
  • Quest University Canada
  • RayCam Renew
  • RBC DS Wealth Management
  • REALM
  • Reconciliation Canada
  • Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Society
  • Representative for Children and Youth, B.C.
  • Resilience Planning
  • Rhodes Wellness College
  • Rick Hansen Foundation
  • Riley Park Community Garden
  • Rize
  • Rural Resilience
  • Salmo Public Library Association
  • Save On Meats
  • SCSV
  • Seabird Island Band
  • Seeds of Change
  • Seeds of Change Surrey
  • Seniors Hub Council
  • SFU Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies
  • SFU Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
  • SFU Gerontology
  • SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue
  • SFU Public Square
  • Shuswap PRIDE
  • Simon Fraser University URB 696 class
  • Sir Charles Tupper Secondary
  • Skeena Diversity Society
  • Skyrocket
  • Sources Community Resource Society
  • South Okanagan Immigrant and Community Services
  • South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
  • Special Olympics BC
  • Squamish Climate Action Network
  • St. Peter’s Fireside Church
  • Steveston 20/20
  • Steveston Hub
  • Stolo Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training- SASET Culinary Arts
  • Stroke Recovery Association of BC
  • SUCCESS Language Services
  • Summerland Community Arts Council
  • Surrey Local Immigration Partnership
  • Suzuki Elders
  • SVI Potluck
  • T.I.N.G.A. Tupper Integrated Neighbourhood Greenway Association
  • Talk Shop
  • Team Autism Canada
  • Terrace Women’s Resource Centre Society
  • The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – BC Chapter
  • The Coastal Village Cohousing
  • The Common
  • The Cridge Centre for the Family
  • The Green Moustache Organic Café
  • The Kootenay Bakery Cafe Cooperative
  • The Marrakesh
  • The Mountain Village
  • The Red Box
  • The Salvation Army Vancouver Harbour Light
  • The Salvation Army Willows Church
  • The University Women’s Club of Vancouver
  • The Victoria Foundation
  • The Washington Group
  • Tides Canada
  • Town of Oliver
  • Transition Nanaimo
  • Travel for All, Inc.
  • Tumbler Ridge Public Library
  • UBC
  • UBC Geering Up Engineering Outreach
  • UBC-CeMCOR (Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research)
  • ubuntu canteen
  • UCV Fireside Chats
  • Unitarian Church of Vancouver
  • United Way of the Lower Mainland
  • University of British Columbia
  • Urban Arts Architecture
  • Urban design
  • UrbanPromise Vancouver
  • Vancity
  • Vancity HUB
  • Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society
  • Vancouver City Planning Commission
  • Vancouver Coastal Health-Richmond
  • Vancouver Community College
  • Vancouver Courier
  • Vancouver Design Foundation
  • Vancouver Foundation
  • Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society
  • Vancouver Island University
  • Vancouver Opera
  • Vancouver Planning Commission and Kokoro Dance Society
  • Vancouver Special
  • Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
  • VCH
  • VCPC
  • VIA
  • VIFW
  • Village of Salmo
  • W11 Birch to Hemlock neighbourhood
  • Watershed Watch Salmon Society
  • Waterstone Pier
  • West End Seniors’ Network
  • West Kootenay Regional Arts Council
  • Wild Goat Executive Coaching
  • Wilps Yal
  • Wit Works Ltd
  • Working Together
  • Worldmeetsant
  • Woven Women
  • Yellow Bowl Comfort Club
  • YMCA of Greater Vancouver
  • Youth 20/20 Can
  • YWCA Metro Vancouver
  • ZLC Financial