The ZacPac Project
Registered Name: WEINBERG FOUNDATION INC.
Business No: 865935589RR0001
This organization is designated by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a registered charity. They comply with the CRA's requirements and have been issued a charitable registration number.
This charity is fully set up with CanadaHelps, allowing for faster donation processing and access to more features
Zac Weinberg founded the ZacPac Project to provide essential items to unhoused people.
The ZacPac Project creates dry bags filled with a waterproof sleeping bag, gloves, thermal socks, hats, and other essential items to unhoused people, providing physical comfort and a message of kindness while destigmatizing and raising awareness about the homelessness crisis.
Since the project's founding in 2019, The ZacPac Project has raised over $300,000 and assembled and distributed 8,800 ZacPacs through over 50 outreach partners across nine Canadian cities: Vancouver, Chilliwack, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Mission, Winnipeg, and Kenora. The project is currently fundraising for an additional 2,000-3,000 ZacPacs for distribution in the spring of 2026.
The ZacPac Project accepts donations in cash, in-kind, or in stock. To make a donation in-kind or stock, please contact zacpacproject@gmail.com or send a direct message to @zacpacproject on Instagram. The project is seeking essential items, including socks, hats, winter gloves, emergency blankets, reusable water bottles, tarps, rain ponchos, collapsible umbrellas, toothbrushes, non-perishable food items, and scarves. If you or your company can donate any of these items in bulk, we will include them inside the ZacPac and issue a tax receipt, provided an invoice is supplied.
Thank you for considering supporting The ZacPac Project.
BACKGROUND:
The ZacPac Project's first initiative was in March of 2020, just before the COVID-19 lockdowns, distributing 2,200 20L dry bags, one for every unhoused person in the city of Vancouver, based on the official homeless count at the time, filled with 12 essential items distributed through 30 outreach organizations in Vancouver.
For the second edition of the ZacPac, Zac increased the size of the dry bag from 20L to 30L to accommodate a sleeping bag that was custom-designed to be waterproof inside and out. The 2022 edition distributed 3,000 ZacPacs, a number reflective of that year's Metro Vancouver homeless count, through 40 outreach partners.
Thanks to coverage from CTV National and Melanie Nagy, Zac received requests from people across Canada to bring the ZacPac to their city. For the third edition of the ZacPac, Zac brought the project to his birthplace of Winnipeg. On June 20, 2023, over 60 volunteers helped pack 1,200 ZacPacs in Winnipeg. The project's launch event was visited by then-Premier Heather Stefanson, Mayor Scott Gillingham, and Endhomelessness CEO Jason Whitford.
In May 2024, 42 volunteers gathered at Steve Morrey Mazda of the Northshore to assemble 2,400 ZacPacs for Metro Vancouver, to reflect the rising homeless count in the region. Each ZacPac includes sleeping bags, socks, reusable water bottles, emergency blankets, rain ponchos, packaged food items, and a hygiene kit.
The ZacPac Project is under the umbrella of the Weinberg Foundation. Its charitable registration number is 86593 5589 RR0001, and it can provide tax receipts for donations of goods, provided an invoice is included. The mailing address for the foundation is 300-1001 Corydon Ave. Winnipeg, MB. R3M 0B6.
OUTREACH PARTNERS:
Covenant House, Broadway Youth Services, Directions Youth Services, Belkin House for Women & Children, Belkin House for Men, First United Church, Catholic Charities Men Hostel, Sheway, Powell Place Shelter for Women, Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, ICM Outreach & Safepoint, Atira Women's Resource Centre, Atira Women's Resource - Mobile Unit, Vancouver Recovery Club, Watari Counselling & Support Services, CityReach Care Society, North Shore Shelter, Gateway Shelter, New Wesminster's Gateway Shelter, Phoenix Society, DTES Connections Clinic, Coast Mental Health Resource Centre, Evelyne Saller Centre, Powell Street Getaway, Al Mitchel Place, Carnegie Outreach, Yukon Shelter, Triage Shelter, The Kettle Society, MPA Society, A Gathering Place, Overdose Outreach Team, STOP Team, Foundry Granville, Collingwood Neighborhood House, Vancouver Police Department, Guildford Shelter, Parkway Shelter, Surrey Urban Mission, Riverside Shelter, Mission BC Shelter, Siloam Mission, North End Women's Centre, Andrews Street Family Centre, Resource Assistance for Youth, Downtown Community Safety Partnership, Main Street Project, Canadian Mental Health Association - Kenora Branch, and Kenora's Ne-Chee Friendship Centre
READ MORE:
Visit @zacpacproject on Instagram
Available archives of media coverage of the ZacPac Project:
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