All year round at West Coast LEAF you can be sure to hear — the doorbell dinging, phones ringing, and the click, click, click of keyboards, producing a  steady hum beneath the flow of collaboration, education and legal work that happens here.

But at the start of every new year, the hum grows louder and the flow picks up pace as new faces begin to trickle into the stream, marking the arrival of the Breakfast Interns for West Coast LEAF’s annual fundraiser, the Equality Breakfast.

Walking through the office, snippets of conversation resound off the walls such as “I was looking for somewhere with the same values,” and  “…people who are passionate,” and “… a nourishing space,” as the Interns come together to meet and connect with West Coast LEAF staff and one another — sharing what drives them to be part of this event.

 
Photo of a group of people standing in an office hallway. You can see pairs of people standing together talking.
Breakfast Volunteers getting trained for the big day! Photo Credit: Zoe
 

 What is the Equality Breakfast?

 It’s the best event this side of noon, taking place this year on Friday, March 6th!

While every year we celebrate International Women’s Day, this year is extra special, we are also celebrating West Coast LEAF’s 35th birthday! Not only do we get to enjoy breakfast with hundreds of our supporters, sponsors and team members, but we are celebrating a momentous birthday for the organization.

For this year’s festivities, we not only have our classic silent auction but a raffle as well. The Breakfast Team wants to make sure everyone has the opportunity to participate in trying to win one of the fabulous items generously donated to our organization.

We are also thrilled and honoured to be joined by the remarkable Sandy Hudson, this year’s keynote speaker and one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement presence in Canada.

As the long-anticipated date is now upon us, we would like to take a moment to peek behind the scenes of this Friday’s early morning event.
 

Who is the Breakfast Team?

 
“I was looking for an organization that I felt was passionate about what they did and the effort they put into it.” — Trinity, Breakfast Intern
 

Each year we are proud to welcome volunteers who have previously been guests at our Equality Breakfast, volunteers who are new to the province and looking to get involved with the work we do and students who are entering or contemplating a legal education.

 
Photo of a group of people standing around a table. Their backs are to the camera.
Breakfast volunteers coming together to plan and coordinate. Photo Credit: Zoe
 

This year’s team of volunteers is a group of youths, parents, students, and professionals that have chosen to work in collaboration with West Coast LEAF in putting on our 33rd Annual Equality Breakfast — as it took a couple of years before we began this breakfast tradition.

Since the beginning putting on this event has been a truly collective effort —which is what makes the Equality Breakfast so different and unforgettable each year, for our team and for our guests. It truly is informed by a composition of perspectives — born from varying lived experiences.

 
 “To be able to participate in a place with like-minded people with the same goals, we are able to achieve so much… This event brings all these core values together and that’s why I am more than happy to volunteer here.” — Kim-Sa, Breakfast Intern
 

One constant does remain prevalent amongst our volunteers — a shared dedication towards dismantling inequitable structures that have historically dispossessed, marginalized, subjugated and oppressed individuals and communities on account of gender, race, sexuality and citizenship status within the settler-colonial nation of Canada. We remain strong in our dedication to bringing about a just future in which identities of all kinds are respected and protected by the legal structures that impact our daily lives.

We want to extend our deepest gratitude to the volunteers and greater community that have found ways to collaborate and join our efforts. This event is the product of our collective imagination, and each donor, sponsor, volunteer, and team member has played an integral part in manifesting our shared vision.

 
Photo of two people. One eprson is looking at the camera and holding up a slice of pizza. The person next to them is taking a bite out of the pizza and not looking at the camera.
Staying fueled for the big day! Photo Credit: Zoe
 

So let’s raise a cup of delicious coffee for this upcoming Friday morning!

 

 
 
Zoe joined West Coast LEAF as a Breakfast Intern through a practicum course offered by the Social Justice Institute at UBC. As she begins this transition into the next chapter of her life she is imagining ways to weave together her love of the arts, passion for justice and fascination with positionality and perspective into her next step.