On Thursday evening, 100 Women Who Care South Simcoe met virtually for their quarterly fundraising event in support of local charities.
Four times a year, 100 local women get together with $100 each, and listen to spokespeople from three different charities in the community. After they get a chance to listen and learn more about each organization, they vote on which charity they want their donations to go to.
The charity with the most votes takes home 80 percent of the pot, and the rest is split between the other two charities.
The ladies last met virtually in May, where they heard from CONTACT Community Services, Autism Ontario - Simcoe Chapter and Salvation Army - Barrie.
On Thursday, presentations were made by the Innisfil Food Bank, Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie, and Seasons Centre for Grieving Children.
Donna VanBodegom, Coordinator for the Innisfil Food Bank was first to speak, noting that COVID has caused an uptick in client visits.
With COVID, she says the way the food bank operates has changed drastically, now offering a drive-up program and visits by appointment only to maintain safe physical distancing practices.
The food bank is run by two volunteers and three staff members, who distribute boxes containing non perishable goods only.
“We don’t have any perishables at this time, but we do have eggs from a local farmer,” noted Van Bodegom.
Currently, the Innisfil Food Bank spends over $10,000 a month on food. To minimize physical contact, they are discouraging any type of food drives in the community. VanBodegom says the best way to support the food bank is to donate financially through their website, “to buy what we want when we need it.”
If any food items do come in, it must sit for a few days in quarantine before being distributed.
In the spring, they created ‘COVID kits’ for clients with grant money donated by the town, which included soaps, reusable masks and gift cards for perishable foods at the grocery store.
VanBodegom said the first two weeks of September have been extremely busy.
“The first two weeks in September we serviced more clients than all of August,” she said.
The food bank sees about 300 people per month, or 100 families, mostly intermittent users, coming between one to five times per year.
“Our aim is to be a hand up, not a hand out,” she explained.
Some of the main reasons people visit the food bank, include job loss, lay offs, and family breakups. VanBodegom notes that with COVID, there have been a lot of family breakups due to domestic abuse cases which are are on the rise.
This year the food bank is planning to have their first ever Thanksgiving distribution, and plan to give out 100 turkeys.
“We’re really excited about that,” said VanBodegom.
Courtney McFadden Development Manager at Seasons Centre spoke second, and shared information on about the programs offered at the centre.
“We’re honoured to be nominated and spread awareness on the work we provide,” said McFadden.
Seasons Centre for Grieving Children has been serving the Simcoe-Muskoka area since 1995. The centre is located in Barrie and was founded by Rowley Ramey, after tragically losing his two daughters Samantha and Jessica in a car accident. They provide peer to peer support for those grieving the loss of an immediate family member.
“Bereaved children have unique needs,” shared McFadden, noting that many are often predisposed to serious issues if not provided the opportunity to work through their grief.
While COVID has had an impact on everyone, she said it has been particularly hard for those who have lost someone.
“This new normal has made it more difficult for those who are grieving, who have lost those in COVID...the mental health impact it has had has been challenging,” she said.
Throughout lockdown, many of their programs were moved online, but for the new season they have been able to start hosting in-person group meetings again, following social distance guidelines.
Services at the centre are free of charge. They do not receive any type of government funding, and rely solely on donations and grants from the community.
Kelly Letourneau Development Manager for the Women and Children’s Shelter of Barrie was last to speak, thanking all the presenters for sharing their mission with the group.
“Those who work in nonprofit see tragedy everyday,” she said. “Thank you to this group, the awareness is so appreciated and we thank you very, very much.”
Letourneau shared stories of three women who used to live at the shelter, who suffered from varying forms of abuse and eventually went on to live normal, successful lives.
“Our 24 hour crisis line takes hundreds of calls a month taking refuge from violence and abuse in this community,” shared Letourneau, noting that they are working hard to end the cycle of violence.
Currently the shelter is the biggest in the county, with 27 beds, but takes in about 30-35 women and children at a time due to increased demand.
“We are struggling,” said Letourneau, “due to COVID, we have been forced to provide services to women in and outside our shelter. Isolation and ongoing family stress is having a huge impact on women in our city.”
“The violence women are experiencing is astonishing,” she said.
She says the grocery bills for the shelter run them about $1,500 a week, and are now seeing an increase in those numbers.
The shelter provides one on one counselling, group counselling, housing transition services, legal services and beds for victims of human trafficking.
“You provide healthy meals and a warm bed, you ensure that a woman feels safe and you are there,” she said of the women’s donations. “You as donors create survivors.”
The shelter is 75 percent funded by the government, but the remaining costs from donations help fill the gap. Letourneau notes that due to a lack of affordable housing in the area, they see the bottleneck at the shelter.
“Ten years ago the length of stay would have been a month, and now it’s upwards of six,” she said.
Many of the women seeking refuge have been involved in the human trafficking scene, often having police bringing them in off the street. Georgian Mall and On Route gas stations she says are large hubs for human trafficking in the area. She says Barrie has twice the national rate of human trafficking because of its central location, which is easily accessible to the north and south of the province.
The shelter operates on a first come first serve basis, and there are no wait lists.
After hearing from all the presenters, an online poll went out to the women who voted on which charity should receive the majority of the funds.
It was a hard decision to make, but it was the Barrie Women and Children’s Shelter who took home the bulk of the pot.
Letourneau was humbled by the generosity of the group.
“It’s very appreciated, thank you,” she said.
Organizer Amy Simpson thanked all the women for coming out to show their support, reflecting how it was just last year she had the idea to start the group as a way to give back to people in the community who need it most.
“Thank you for showing up,” said an emotional Simpson.
“Thank you so much to the organizers who put this together,” said Innnsfil Mayor Lyn Dollin, who is a regular guest at the ladies' fundraising events.
The women will be hosting one more event before Christmas, with further details to come.
A total of $1,600 was raised for the charities on Thursday evening and donations will contine to be accepted into the weekend.
Anyone looking to donate, or take part in the group can join the 100 Women Who Care Facebook page here or follow them on Instagram @100womensimcoe
