We Are All In This Together

Stratawest has been a locally owned and operated business for almost 30 years. In the nearly 9 years since Jason Kurtz and I bought the company, we have been proud to support many worthwhile causes in an effort to improve the communities we live in (including Harvest Project, Music Heals and Family Services of the North Shore), as well as those in need around the world (Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres and Heart & Stroke Foundation).

While we aren’t often vocal about these things, we feel compelled to use our modest platform to share a message of solidarity and hope with those demanding change of governments around race and police reform, both here at home and abroad. We are proud to employ an incredibly diverse workforce and want to demonstrate our support for our staff and their families during this time of need.

We are keenly aware of the fact that many of us, most specifically privileged white men, do not experience first-hand issues of racism and violence against minorities and women. We are lucky. With that luck and privilege comes an obligation to be an ally to those who are impacted by these awful realities in our world. It’s our responsibility to provide a safe place to work and do whatever we can to align on the side of people that look for solutions, and ask questions… ‘What can I do? How can I help? Tell me more.’

Stratawest has made donations to the following organizations and we want to use this platform to help raise awareness of these worthy and diverse causes that support anti-racism, solidarity efforts for Indigenous peoples, healthcare and COVID-19 specific support for minorities, assistance to refugees new to Canada, and advocacy around police reform.

• Pivot Legal Society: BC-based advocacy group around police reform and free legal advice/assistance to underprivileged who are often Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC);
• Hogan’s Alley Society: Local advocates for Black Vancouverites who have endured the legacies of urban renewal and their erasure from the official historical narrative;
• Black Health Alliance: Working to improve the health and wellbeing of Black communities in Canada through health care, anti-racism activism, COVID-19 specific support, and other initiatives;
• Canadian Council for Refugees: An umbrella organization that brings together refugee, asylum-seeker, newcomer and immigrant serving organizations from coast to coast;
• The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund: Working to improve the lives of Indigenous people by building awareness, education, and connections between all Canadians.

Thanks for reading and hopefully clicking on some of the links above to learn more. Let’s all continue to do our very best to take care of each other and ourselves.

Cory Pettersen | President