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Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives has had many different names over the 50 years it has worked to serve the local community.
Photo courtesy Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives
Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives has had many different names over the 50 years it has worked to serve the local community.
Photo courtesy Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives
Share memories with RCRG for 50th birthday
Published 11:41 PST, Tue March 1, 2022
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This year Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives is celebrating its 50th birthday.
To mark the milestone, the organization—also known as RCRG—will be sharing memories in its newsletter and elsewhere. People are invited to share photos or stories by emailing rluetzen@rcrg.org.
RCRG’s long-time partners at Opacity Design Group have also created a new anniversary logo that will appear throughout the year.
The organization got its start in 1972 when a group of individuals involved with the Richmond Savings Credit Union (the precursor to Coast Capital Savings) launched an information centre, which they ran out of a cloakroom in the Credit Union's main branch.
In 1986, then operating out of Richmond Centre mall, the information service merged with the Richmond Volunteer Centre and became the aptly named Richmond Information and Volunteer Centre.
In the following years, the organization continued to grow, adding a number of services for seniors including grocery shopping. In those early days, orders were filled at the Lansdowne Centre Safeway.
In 1994, the organization moved again, becoming one of the original tenants of Richmond Caring Place. This new beginning led to another new name: Richmond Connections.
Throughout the 1990s, the organization kept expanding and introduced programs like its child care resource and referral centre.
In 2001, the International Year of Volunteers, the organization renamed itself Volunteer Richmond Information Services and introduced the Volunteers Are Stars Awards. That was the same year it took over operation of the Richmond Christmas Fund.
The following decade culminated in the 2010 Winter Olympics. In the years leading up to the Games, RCRG partnered with the city to recruit, screen, train, and manage the volunteers who would staff the Richmond O Zone celebration site at Minoru Park. That was the biggest project in the organization's history, comprising 644 volunteers whose collective efforts made the O Zone a smashing success.
After the Olympics, RCRG laid the groundwork for a long-term collaboration with the Richmond Community Foundation. This came to fruition in 2015, when the organizations pledged to work together to expand the community's giving landscape.
This collaboration prompted one final name change, to Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives. Today, the organization operates as a hub for volunteering and giving, while working to connect Richmond residents to programs and services that will enhance their quality of life.
Photo courtesy Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives
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