Community. Missions. Service. Team.
Those key words are what have always been driving the heart of the Alaskan Christmas Bazaar. Our first event was held as a small fundraiser for a group of teens traveling to Thailand. We had about 45 vendors who paid $35 per booth… and almost no one showed up to shop! Remarkably, we held a second year with far more vendors and blessedly more shoppers.
For the first several years, the team who put on the bazaar would pray about who to contribute the profits to. We were all volunteers, so it was with joy that we sent money to local ministries and international orphanages around the world. After five years, we realized that the entire core team of Alaskan Christmas Bazaar volunteers was made up of Mom’s Club attendees. Mom’s Club is a city-wide ministry that strengthens and encourages moms in their parenting journeys, pointing them to Christ and the eternal work they are doing. With nearly 50 moms attending each week, we had a huge cost in childcare. And so, for the next several years, the team chose Mom’s Club as the recipient of the bazaar funds. And so Mom’s Club – and the bazaar! – thrived.
In 2019 we moved to a new location just up the road from where we began. The new location at ChangePoint allows more vendors, more shoppers, better parking, and all on the same floor (no stairs! Yay!) We continue to pray about which nonprofit we will support each year, and our team is still made up entirely of volunteers.
In 2024, the bazaar expanded to become a two-day event to accommodate parking and shoppers' schedules.
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