What's Happening in Burnaby, BC…

In an attempt to meet growing childcare requirements in the area, a group of Gilpin parents and the Burnaby Neighbourhood House have opened the Gilpin Daycare after five years of effort.

The daycare, which will be located at Gilpin Elementary School, provides much-needed relief for parents of school-aged kids, as previously some of them had no other options for childcare other than themselves, making going to work difficult. The facility is currently the only one of its kind in Gilpin.

The group of parents who initiated the project raised about half of the $480,000 required to get the center up and running by collecting old pop bottles, and through soliciting donations from local businesses and the general public. The rest of the funds came once the Burnaby Neighbourhood House, which is a volunteer social services agency, came on board. However, more funding is needed to keep the daycare running.

As a new organization, the Gilpin Daycare may have hired a printing company to provide stationary printing, which could be useful for communicating with parents about activities occurring at the daycare, as well as for soliciting people for donations.

The Gilpin Daycare has proven popular and is currently full, although parents can put their children on a waiting list. Programs are run for children in kindergarden all the way up to the 7th grade.