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About Our Charity Partners
Fresh to Families
As a non-profit organization with deep roots in the community, we at Vancouver Farmers Markets believe that healthy, locally grown food should be available to everyone, regardless of income. Our Fresh to Families Fund has provided fresh food direct from our BC farmers and producers to families living with low-income, newly arrived refugees, and at-risk pregnant people living in our communities. Fresh to Families provides funding and support to the BC Association of Farmers Markets Nutritional Assistance Program, a province-wide healthy eating initiative, serving 18 000 families, seniors, and pregnant people throughout 85 communities across the province.
- Provides participating households with fresh food coupons that can be spent for fresh produce, meat, eggs and dairy at farmers markets
- Supports the livelihoods of BC farmers and producers through increased sales at farmers markets. Every dollar that feeds a family is spent directly with a farmer at the farmers markets, providing a small-scale BC farmer with increased sales and positively impacting our local economy.
- Enables participants to shop for locally grown food that suits their diet while providing dignity and opportunities for empowerment through choice.
- Fosters community integration across neighborhoods and allows individuals to make connections and thus expand their horizons.
Fresh to Families always has double the impact: feeding families in need while also supporting small BC farmers and producers. We're so grateful for your support.
Growing Chefs
Too many kids don’t know where food comes from or have access to healthy, whole food. Growing Chefs is on a mission to change that! This charity pairs teams of chef and community volunteers with elementary schools to grow vegetable gardens, conduct cooking lessons, and get kids excited about healthy food and food systems. In their classrooms, the children receive lessons on how to plant and care for a garden; nutrition and healthy eating; cooking; urban agriculture; plant growth; food security; and the impact of healthy food systems on our communities and the environment – skills and knowledge that they can take home and share with their families.
Despite the pandemic's impact on Growing Chefs' ability to visit classrooms in person, this charity has actually expanded their reach across B.C. through new virtual offerings.
New for 2023: The 'Marshmallow Dreams' Project
This year our vendors will be launching a new project to help make the festival more accessible to disadvantaged children. We will be distributing coupons picturing our festival mascot, Hotcho, via accredited charitable organizations such as shelters for battered women, church groups and other organizations that specialize in assisting low-income families. The tickets can be redeemed for free hot chocolate drinks only by children accompanied by an adult guardian, and will be issued solely to charitable institutions, not to individuals. If you would like to recommend a distributor please DM us at our Instagram account of @hotchocolatefest
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About CityFood
This initiative to support small business in Great Vancouver is a project of CityFood Media.
The company’s first property, Cityfood Magazine, was published in Canada in 1992 by I.A.C.P. award-winning writer Rhonda May, and was the first independent print publication to focus on the country’s emerging food and beverage scene. Today the CityFood brand continues to cover this vital and dynamic industry via an expanded group of platforms: digital, social media, and innovative community projects such as The Greater Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival.
About our Sponsors
Vancouver Farmers Market Society
Vancouver Farmers Market Society
Vancouver Farmers Market Society
Vancouver Farmers Markets (VFM) is a small non-profit organization that creates vibrant and welcoming markets that build community, feeds people, and supports small farms and producers. VFM operates all year round, with seven weekly summer markets and two weekly winter markets in neighbourhoods across the city.
Winter Marketplaces:
Riley Park (Nat Bailey Stadium): Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Hastings Park:
Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
New this year: One of our new vendors, Aperitivo Truck, will be featuring their hot chocolate creations from their truck in both markets on select dates during the Festival. See Aperitivo's page in the List of Flavours for details.
Daily Hive
Vancouver Farmers Market Society
Vancouver Farmers Market Society
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Daily Hive is a Canadian-born online news source, established in 2008, that creates compelling, hyperlocal content. Daily Hive embraces the unique qualities that exist in a city, and reports it to produce genuine conversation among communities. With unique thematic channels, such as Dished, Mapped, and Urbanized, Daily Hive delivers top-tier information to its local audience and advertisers in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton, Seattle, and Portland.
Find them online at: DailyHive.com/Vancouver
Made in Print
Vancouver Farmers Market Society
Made in Print
Made In Print is your local printing boutique with tools to help you work faster, smarter and offers a variety of options that can be integrated seamlessly to fit your print fulfillment needs. With the most advanced colour printing and finishing equipment, they have set a high standard of quality. You will always deal with experienced print specialists who are dedicated to provide intelligent digital printing services for you.
Made In Print is truly your one-stop printing solution for all your printing needs.
980 CKNW Radio
Mobi by Shaw Go
Made in Print
"For more than 75 years, 980 CKNW has been dedicated to reporting news, sharing compelling stories, asking tough questions, holding others accountable and delivering insightful, critical commentary. 980 CKNW is BC’s most trusted source of news and conversation."
Global BC
Mobi by Shaw Go
Mobi by Shaw Go
Global BC has been British Columbia’s leading television station for over 60 years. With its flagship broadcast Global News Hour at 6 with Chris Gailus and Sophie Lui and the only provincial 24 hour news channel, Global News: BC1; Global BC is the place more British Columbians turn to for local news than any other news stations.
Global BC provides viewers with award-winning journalism, digging deeper to find the truths behind major issues that matter most to residents, and unique stories that they won’t find anywhere else.
Mobi by Shaw Go
Mobi by Shaw Go
Mobi by Shaw Go
Looking for a fun and convenient way to get to the Hot Chocolate Festival? Try bike share with @mobibikes and visit your favourite cafes and restaurants all across the city! Register via the Mobi by Shaw Go App or on their website at mobibikes.ca.
Mobi by Shaw Go, Vancouver’s public bike share program, is perfect for commuting, running errands, visiting friends, or exploring the city. Serving 29 square kilometers of the city with 2000+ bicycles at more than 200 stations, Mobi by Shaw Go has become an essential part of the City of Vancouver's transportation network.