On International Women’s Day, people around the world celebrate the political, cultural and socio-economic achievements of women near and far.
And we have many extraordinary women to honour right here in Collingwood who make our community a better place.
While it is important to mark this day with celebration, it is also a time to reflect on the reality of gender inequality in our world.
Women, girls and non-binary people are at the highest risk of experiencing domestic abuse, homelessness, poverty and gender-based violence.
In an effort to promote gender equality and assist women facing adversity in our community, we created a campaign to raise much-needed funds for the shelter.
The campaign was simple. We secured gift cards for My Friend’s House, donated by Sobeys Collingwood and asked our readers to purchase the gift cards for the shelter at $25 apiece through our online pop-up store, with all money donated and the gift cards to be donated to the shelter.
CollingwoodToday then matched the $25 gift card purchase price to double the donation.
But that’s not all.
We were able to leverage the power of our community to make the donations even bigger by asking our local business partners to match our donation.
Annette and Andy Lee of Bacchus House B&B, Dennis Klinsky and Karen Kalosza of RE/MAX Four Seasons Realty Ltd., Darice Lush - Sales Representative, RE/MAX Four Seasons Realty Ltd., Heather Stitt - Broker, Remax Four Seasons Realty Ltd., Janet Piotrowski - Broker, RE/MAX Four Seasons Realty Ltd., Kristie Baran of Pizzaforno, Marcia Alderson - Broker, Keleher + Co, Leggat Blue Mountain Honda, Mary Riopelle - Realtor, RE/MAX Four Seasons Realty Brokerage Ltd., Remedy Medica and Robin Hobbs - Broker, RE/MAX Four Seasons Realty Ltd. all answered the call.
With their support and yours, we sold out of care packages in less than 24 hours!
For each care package purchased in our pop-up store, every dollar was matched 12 times with all proceeds going directly to My Friend’s House.
In Collingwood, the generosity of our readers and advertisers was translated into a donation of $4,875 for the shelter, plus the gift cards!
Thank you for helping us to strengthen our community and empower local women in need here in Collingwood.
