Pacific Breeze is proud to sponsor a pair of local programs doing quiet, practical good for kids in our city: Athletics4Kids, which pays the registration fees that keep children in amateur sport, and the Abbotsford Starfish Pack program, which sends food home with students every weekend. This post is a short introduction to both, written for fellow business owners, property managers, facility teams and neighbours across the Fraser Valley who want to know where local giving actually goes. If you have been looking for a good place to put your company’s support, we would love to have you join us.
Why Local Giving Matters in Abbotsford
Abbotsford has always been a city that looks after its own. Volunteers pack groceries in church basements on weeknights. Coaches quietly hold a spot open for a kid whose family cannot cover the fees. Small companies write cheques without asking for a plaque on the wall. Both of the programs below are run right here, by people you can meet, which means the help stays close to home and you can see it working.
Athletics4Kids: Every Kid Deserves a Chance to Play
In Canada, about one-third of children miss out on organized sport simply because of what it costs. Registration, equipment, travel; it adds up quickly, and for a lot of families it adds up to a no. Athletics4Kids exists to turn that no into a yes.
Since 2002, the charity has delivered more than $3.1 million in Sport4Life grants to kids aged five to 18 across British Columbia, covering fees for more than 55 amateur, non-school sports. Swimming lessons, community lacrosse, soccer, gymnastics, martial arts: whatever a child wants to try. In 2025 alone, A4K supported over 1,500 kids in more than 40 communities, and it funds families over multiple seasons and multiple years, so one grant is not the end of the story. Their annual fundraiser, Champions Night, is back for its 23rd year on Oct. 17, 2026, at the Delta Hotels Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby.
Starfish Pack: An Abbotsford Idea That Grew
The Starfish Pack program started here in 2013, and the story behind it is a simple one. A local teacher told her father, then the manager of the Abbotsford Food Bank, that some of her students were arriving Monday morning having not eaten since Friday. He decided to do something about it that week.
The answer was a backpack: two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners and healthy snacks, sent home quietly with a student on Friday afternoon. The pilot began with six packs at one elementary school. Today the program runs through Archway Community Services and delivers more than 700 packs a week to elementary, middle and high schools right across Abbotsford. Teachers have reported gains in reading, in math and in kids’ ability to simply focus and get through the day. The idea has since spread to more than 24 communities in B.C. and Whatcom County, feeding thousands of children and their families, and it all began in this city.
An Open Invitation to Fraser Valley Businesses
Neither program runs on big corporate gifts alone. What keeps them going is steady, unglamorous support from local employers and the volunteer hours their people are willing to give. There is room for companies of every size, and a few easy ways in:
Sponsor or attend Champions Night, or give directly through the Athletics4Kids donation page. Even a modest gift helps cover a full season for a child.
Fund backpacks for the school year, or book a staff packing shift, through the Abbotsford Starfish Pack donation page. Teams that come out for a morning tend to come back.
Spread the word. Mention it to your tenants, your trades, your suppliers, and your teams. A conversation at a job site has started more than a few of these partnerships.
Proud to Be Part of It
Pacific Breeze has called Abbotsford home since 1999, and supporting these two programs is one of the more rewarding things we do. You can learn more about our company and the communities we serve, or get in touch any time. And if your business is weighing where to direct its giving this year, we would happily point you toward either one. Kids in this city are worth it.
