Announcing the Winter Bazaar Partners for 2025-2028
Crofton House School and the CHS Parents’ Auxiliary are pleased to announce our Winter Bazaar Community Partners for 2025–2028: Backpack Buddies and the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC).
Backpack Buddies is a BC-based non-profit that delivers meals to over 6,000 children facing food insecurity, especially on weekends and holidays when school meals are unavailable. This partnership offers our community a meaningful way to explore the root causes of hunger in BC. “Backpack Buddies is delighted to partner with Crofton House,” says Emily-anne King, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Backpack Buddies. “Over the next three years, we will engage students, alumnae, staff, and families in the story of children right here in our community who go home to empty cupboards. Together, we can do something about that, and we can’t wait to get started. Welcome to our family of Buddies!”
The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) has served as a vital refuge for women and gender-diverse people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for over 45 years offering services to meet basic needs and providing trauma-informed support and a community rooted in safety, dignity, and respect.
Executive Director, Alice Kendall shares,“Partnering with Crofton House is an opportunity to foster intergenerational learning and compassion. We've already witnessed the powerful impact this connection can have - not only in the resources it brings to our community, but in the way it encourages young people to engage with issues of equity and justice in a real and meaningful way." Kady Huhn, Coordinator, Ivy Compass Program, Senior School, adds, “Through the Ivy Compass program and co-curricular clubs, students have opportunities to learn directly from DEWC staff and clients, and propose and carry out service projects to support this community. We are excited to continue this important work. ”
We are grateful for the community’s engagement in a consultative process this year to select partners for the Winter Bazaar. Thank you to the community members who submitted thoughtful proposals. The CHS Partnership Advisory Group—comprising students, parents, staff, and alumnae—carefully reviewed 14 submissions, guided by core principles of learning, reciprocity, sustainability, diversity, and agency. While our Winter Bazaar partnership currently centers on two organizations, the School is actively exploring meaningful ways to engage with the other proposed, existing, and new partners in learning —seeking collaborations that are deeply impactful for our community.
The Winter Bazaar has been a cherished school tradition since 1944. It is an exceptional CHS Parents’ Auxiliary event and a powerful example of what we can accomplish as a community. For the next three years, Crofton House will collaborate with Backpack Buddies and Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre both as learning partners for the Junior and Senior School, and as the recipients of the Winter Bazaar proceeds. As we prepare for the 2025 Winter Bazaar, we look forward to engaging with you and our new and ongoing partners.
Warmly,
Tracy Tong
President, Parents' Auxiliary
Crofton House School
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Kara McDonald
Deputy Head, Partnerships & Community Engagement
Crofton House School |
