The Y. P. Heung Foundation proudly supports the following programs at Langara College:

Community Cupboard Project: an on-campus food bank program created to help Langara students with food insecurity.

Hamper Program: a program that supports single-parent students, students with families, Youth in Care, Indigenous students, students with special needs, and other identified low-income students.

Laptop Lending Library: the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an important issue: not all students have personal access to computers and other online tools. For low-income students, money is limited and is directed to their basic needs. The Y. P. Heung Foundation has funded the purchase of ten laptop computer for this important service.

Launched in 2018, Science World’s Tech-Up Program provides coding and computational thinking workshops, materials/equipment and professional development for teachers and students in communities throughout British Columbia.

Funding from the Y. P. Heung Foundation, which has supported Tech-Up since 2020, goes towards helping Science World connect with kids in remote communities, support underserved families through after-school science sessions, and provide free/low-cost professional development to our most passionate K-12 teachers.

Located in Prince George, The Exploration Place & Science Museum largest museum and only science centre in northern BC. It is currently going through an extensive renovation project, and the Y. P. Heung Foundation has provided a grant that will go towards the museum’s Gaia Paleobotany Hall. This hall will look at climate change and concern for the environment through the lens of prehistory, diversity of life on Earth, and the many changes and mass extinctions that have occurred over the last 3.8 billion years. It is critically important to adjust to a rapidly shifting world, offering programming that focuses on understanding and protecting the planet and the environment.

Since 2016, the RISE Women’s Legal Centre—the first of its kind in BC—has provided low-income women in the Lower Mainland with much-needed legal representation in family law and related areas. Its services are open and inclusive regardless of age, place of origin, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality or ability, including those women who support themselves by selling or trading sex. Under the supervision of practicing lawyers, legal services are provided by senior law students from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia.

The Y. P. Heung Foundation and its advisors have proudly supported this local program since 2017. Says Trustee Raymond Heung, “We learned that the genesis of the name ‘RISE’ is the hope that clients will be able to rise above difficult times by advancing their legal matters to resolution, and this strongly resonates with the mission of the Foundation.”

Decoda Literacy Solutions is the only province-wide literacy organization in British Columbia. Through resources, training and funds, Decoda supports community-based literacy programs and initiatives in communities across the province. Decoda supports children and families, youth, adults, seniors, Indigenous and immigrant communities in an effort to build strong individuals, strong families and strong communities.

In 2020, the Y. P. Heung Foundation helped fund the Fostering Literacy Project. This program improves the educational outcomes of children in BC communities by bringing together schools districts, literacy groups, community volunteers, teachers, and parents. Fostering Literacy is also an employment program for Grades 11 & 12 students to gain paid work experience. Many of the children and youth are from rural areas, Indigenous communities, or urban centres, where there is a high percentage of children in care.

Founded in 2000, NatureKids BC is a nature discovery and environmental action organization that helps children (ages 5-12) get outdoors to explore, play, learn about, and take action for nature. This organization has nearly thirty volunteer-led clubs throughout British Columbia. Its mandate is to “provide regular opportunities for children and families to explore, learn about and enjoy nature nearest to where they live, guided by local nature mentors – naturalists, college and university scientists and other experts from every possible sphere of interest.”

The Y. P. Heung Foundation supported NatureKids BC with grants in 2017 to 2019, to help the organization expand its reach within the province.