Hosted by Mark Madryga, from Global BC, this year’s United Way Kick-off took place in glorious sunshine, with about 1500 supporters and well-wishers in attendance at Jack Poole Plaza.

Mark got the show started by encouraging everyone to learn more about United Way’s activities at the UW Community Hub, to enjoy the wonderful food and free mini-doughnuts on offer, and to try out the fun activities – which saw some folks show off some slightly rusty, but still respectable hula hoop skills!

Mark then led everyone in a loud group cheer , while BC Lions fans got the chance to compete in some fun games for team memorabilia.

Then it was on to the Proclamation of United Way Day by Vancouver's Deputy Mayor, Adriane Carr, and Mike McKnight spoke briefly about the fundraising which now gets underway to fight childhood poverty, bullying and seniors’ social isolation.

House band Dr Strangelove kept things grooving along and the noise levels up, but the loudest cheers came from the PwC team cheer video competition tent, where 15 workplace teams dressed up and shared their cheers to win a big prize. Watch the United way website for an opportunity to vote for your favourite team cheer in the days to come.

Guest were also able to win their own special United Way heart cookie by Tweeting the one word that embodies community to them. Others wrote their chosen word on their invitation and joined others in creating a collage of words on the big Lower Mainland map. United Way’s Kick-off saw lots of attention on social media, with local celebrities, media and supporters encouraging people to participate and spread the word. 

The Lower Mainland media embraced Kick-off and its objectives, and several key media partners received a special gigantic cookie, invitation and gift bag on the morning of Kick-off. Global BC, CTV, Virgin Radio and The Shore are just some of the outlets that featured coverage of the event.

And to end, a very special moment, when the Olympic cauldron was brought back to life, signalling the start of this year’s fundraising campaign, aimed at raising $29,555,000 to prevent childhood poverty, bullying and seniors' social isolation. 

Let the fundraising begin!