Rainbow Road · Balance due September 30, 2026
A full-size skating surface and arena board system is sitting in a container in Victoria with our deposit on it. The island read last week that our donor withdrew. That's true — so we're asking the community instead.
$0 raised of $85,000.
One panel is $850. One square foot is $27. Every panel on this rink is still unclaimed — the first one is worth more than the last.
Every contribution is arranged personally, by email — no payment form, no third party. Jesse Giddings, our founder and chair, answers these himself, usually the same day. Charitable receipting is being finalised now — if that matters to you, say so and we'll hold your pledge until it's live.
The Driftwood reported this month that our anonymous donor withdrew, leaving an $85,000 gap — and that the project is otherwise moving ahead, with site work programmed for a 2027 build at Rainbow Road.
Where the project actually stands
The equipment exists, the site work is in the CRD's 2027 planning, and public money is already committed to the ground it will sit on. What's missing is the purchase price of the rink itself.
A 3,200 sq ft Can-Ice synthetic ice surface with an Athletica professional dasher board and netting system — arena-grade, bought from a Victoria society winding down its operations, at a fraction of the cost new. It needs no refrigeration and runs year-round.
Behind the community pool. The location has been chosen and written into the area's recreation planning, and CRD staff have programmed the site work for 2027 — clearing, levelling and compacting the pad, a pathway from the parking lot, and storage for skates and sharpening equipment. This is not an open question, and there is no alternative location under consideration.
CRD staff have costed the groundworks and infrastructure at roughly $250,000, with $50,000 allocated from the LCC's reserve funding toward work in 2027 and the balance being pursued through funding partners and Community Works funding. That's public investment that sits underneath every private dollar raised here.
An anonymous donor had committed to the purchase and withdrew, for reasons that are theirs. We notified CRD staff on July 28 and it was reported on the Driftwood's front page. The deposit secures the equipment to the end of September, with an option to extend.
Our fiscal sponsorship with Sport BC — the arrangement that lets charitable receipts be issued while our own CRA registration proceeds — is in its final stages and we expect it confirmed very shortly. Until it is, we can't issue receipts and we won't imply otherwise. If a receipt matters to you, email us now and we'll hold your pledge and come straight back to you the moment it's live. Nothing is lost by starting today, and it helps enormously to know what's coming.
Three ways in
All three start with an email. We'll take it from there.
Cheque, e-transfer, or a conversation about something larger. There's no minimum that doesn't matter — a hundred islanders at $850 is the whole thing. Want the tax receipt? Pledge now and we'll come back to you the moment receipting is confirmed.
Email to contribute →Your name on a dasher panel, in front of every skater on this island for years. For a business this is an advertising cost rather than a donation, which is a cleaner line for your books. Ask us for the rate sheet.
Ask for rates →We need the container emptied and the rink hauled from Victoria, plus skates and a sharpener. A flat deck, an excavator, a warehouse, a trade, or a weekend of labour all move the number as surely as cash does.
Tell us what you have →Fair questions
An anonymous donor had committed to funding the purchase of the rink and withdrew before the funds were transferred. They gave no detailed reason and we're not going to speculate about one. We told CRD staff as soon as we knew, on July 28, rather than let it surface later. The equipment, the deposit, and the site planning are all unaffected — the only thing that changed is who is paying for it, and the answer we're proposing is: the island.
It will be, very shortly. Our fiscal sponsorship with Sport BC — which is what allows charitable receipts to be issued while our own CRA charity registration proceeds — is in its final stages, and we expect confirmation within days rather than months. Until it's confirmed we can't issue receipts, and we'd rather say so plainly than have you find out afterwards.
So the practical answer is this. If a receipt matters to you, email us now — we'll record your pledge and contact you the moment receipting goes live, and you give at that point. If a receipt doesn't matter to you, we can take your contribution today and put it to work immediately.
The purchase of the rink itself is entirely privately funded — that's the $85,000 this page is about. Separately, the CRD has costed the site groundworks at roughly $250,000 and the LCC has allocated $50,000 from reserves toward that work in 2027. Those are two different budgets. Public money is going into the ground; private money is buying the rink.
Yes, on steel blades, with real hockey stops. There's modestly more friction than refrigerated ice. For learn-to-skate, public skate, and shinny it isn't what anyone remembers about the experience — and it needs no ice plant, no compressors, and no seasonal shutdown, which is the only reason a community our size can realistically sustain a rink at all.
The panels are ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, which contains no fluorine and therefore cannot contain PFAS. The surface slip agents are fatty acid amides approved for food contact by the FDA and the EU. We'll send the manufacturer's safety data sheets to anyone who asks.
Costs are low without refrigeration — cleaning, periodic panel maintenance, lighting. The operating model is built on user fees, programming, sponsorship and volunteer hours, and we'll publish it. We're not asking the island to fund a facility that becomes a permanent line item.
The agreement contains an extension mechanism, so it isn't a single cliff edge. But the equipment is real, the seller is winding up their society, and another buyer could take it. We'd rather not find out.
The Salt Spring Island Healthy Living Society, a registered BC not-for-profit formed for this project. The board is islanders — a community hockey organizer, the director of ArtSpring, and others. Luc Robitaille, President of the LA Kings, serves as Honorary Co-Chair. Our board list, financials, and the purchase agreement are available to anyone who asks.
Talk to a person
Jesse Giddings, Founder & Chair, reads and answers these himself. If you'd rather talk than type, say so and leave a number.
healthylivingssi@gmail.com