We’re Growing the Dream! The Cinderella Project Seeks Its “Official” First Executive Director.
A Big Step Forward – The Cinderella Project is Hiring Its First Executive Director! This marks an important step in our evolution — one made possible by the unwavering support of our incredible community of volunteers, school counsellors, community partners and donors. Read more…
Our Mission
The Cinderella Project is dedicated to removing social barriers and promoting inclusiveness by recognizing and celebrating youth who have succeeded in the face of significant adversity and to encourage these youth toward positive choices and to stay engaged in their education. We value dignity, respect, and empowerment and believe that all youth deserve to be acknowledged, supported, and encouraged in their educational and personal growth.
Purpose
Our core belief is that education is the foundation for stability, financial independence and future opportunity. We work to build self-esteem, restore dreams for a better future, and ensure students feel included, understood and important. The Cinderella Project exists to support and encourage vulnerable youth in Grade 12, many of whom face economic hardship, social isolation, or personal trauma. Our primary goal is to support youth in reaching the milestone of high school graduation, and from there, to provide the encouragement and resources they need to continue on their educational journey.
Our role in the community is to help grow capable, financially independent young adults. Young people who know the importance of connecting and helping others, contributes to well-functioning communities.
The Cinderella Project 2025
In December 2024, we delivered personalized care packages to our newly accepted 2024/2025 graduates to spread a little joy before the holiday break. Packages were thoughtfully curated with grocery gift cards, toiletries, mental health resources, handwritten letters of encouragement, and a few special items based on each student’s likes.
Then, on March 2, 2025, we celebrated 250 students and their guests for our annual Grad Celebration Event. This event couldn’t have been possible without the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, our amazing donors and sponsors, and our hosts at the Pinnacle Hotel Vancouver Harbourfront. The weekend has had an incredible impact on our students, and delivers on our goal: to ensure that our students have a day for themselves, where they are celebrated, encouraged, appreciated, valued, included, and understood.
To paraphrase a story from the weekend, one of our students, after picking out their suit, kept saying “I really do feel like a Cinderella, I had no idea how this was going to make me feel. I am so excited to graduate! I wasn’t really sure before today if I was going to bother, but now I am super excited to walk across that stage! This day has been life-changing for me.” This is one of the many, many reasons why we do what we do, and we could not do it without the support of our volunteers, sponsors, and donors.
Our support for students continues through Achievement Awards, providing scholarships and bursaries to help them reach their future goals and dreams. If you like to help us to support our graduates, please visit our donation page to learn more.
To find out about joining us as a volunteer for next year, please visit the volunteers page to sign up for future volunteer opportunities.
We support students in Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Sea to Sky (Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton). For other areas, please have a look at some similar projects.
Have ideas? We’d love to hear them. Please contact us to share them with our Board.