History

The foundation of Heart2Heart began with the initiatives of two young students, Marco Chen and Tom Huang, living in Vancouver, BC during the summer of 2006. When Marco had just finished grade 10 and Tom was ready to enjoy his last year of high school as a grade 12, they both desired to pursue a project that was out of the ordinary. Since Marco and Tom were constantly bombarded with the news of the many unfortunate children living in every corner of this world, they realized that knowledge alone cannot help to improve the lives of children who lack the essential and basic needs of living. In fact, the simple question "Do they even know what school means?" left Marco and Tom confused and uneasy. However, this question became the driving force for Marco and Tom to begin their first project: to build a school for the underprivileged children in their homeland, China.

First they contacted the local government about their initiative. With overwhelming support, a target to build a school in the small village of Miao-Long, Guizhou was set. Immediately, fundraising efforts were being organized in Shenzhen, Guangdong. At the very first Heart2Heart fundraising tea banquet event, generous donations were received along with great support from the local media. With this great start, Marco and Tom knew that this would not be merely a one-time event. Thus, as it was time for both of them to return to Vancouver for school, they decided to expand Heart2Heart into the Vancouver private school community. In the following months, many enthusiastic and committed students joined Marco and Tom in aiming to complete their project. Currently, these leaders have become the backbone of our non-profit organization, the Heart2Heart Canadian Youth Society.

Why are we called Heart2Heart?

Growing up as young, privileged children, we realized that there are those less fortunate who would be exactly like us if not for their lack of basic living needs. This difference defines the inequality that exists in today's societies. Why can't all children go to school? Why can't all children have Christmas presents during the merry holidays? Because of this gap between these children and ourselves, we truly believe that only from the passion that spills forth from the deepest reaches of our heart can we make a difference to the hearts of others. Thus, we became known as Heart2Heart.