CKNW Kid’s Fund

The CKNW Kids’ Fund mission is to provide timely support to vulnerable kids with physical, mental, and social challenges living in BC communities.  The CKNW Kids’ Fund believes healthy communities begin with our children. Strong community sense is not only a common thread to our existence it is the common bond that binds.

What began in 1944 with two radio disc jockeys calling on their New Westminster community to help make the holiday season brighter for needy children, has evolved into the CKNW Kids’ Fund.

We are one of the largest sources of direct assistance for children in BC.

With the help of donors throughout British Columbia, we continue to use that 1944 community thread to weave a blanket of support where kids facing socio-economic adversity can gain access to the services required for their fundamental childhood development.

Through a dynamic network of community outreach, tireless fundraising, and generous donors, we have created a lifeline for these brave kids and their families who struggle with the enormous cost of therapies, programs, and medical equipment so crucial to their development and quality of life.

With a record-breaking donation of one million dollars, the Rix Family Foundation is one of the Kids’ Fund top supporters. This funding allows children and youth in BC to have equal access to resources, opportunities, and experiences, such as summer camps, through the Neil McRae Summer Camps Project, and our annual Picnic at Playland.

The CKNW Kids’ Fund is proud to have the Rix Family Foundation as the presenting sponsor of Picnic at Playland. Originally a special day out to Bowen Island for a small group of kids in 1956, the picnic event has transformed into one of our most beloved events of the year. For half a century, CKNW Kids’ Fund has been able to support over 93,000 elementary and high school aged children with various challenges, including learning difficulties, physical, and/or mental challenges, to experience a fun, worry-free day out that they may not otherwise enjoy.

Now held at Playland in Vancouver, with the help of the Rix Family Foundation, we are able to invite over 3,500 children once a year to enjoy the entire park that is reserved just for them.