Baby and Chyna on their marks for sexual assault centre fundraiser
Article content
Baby and Chyna are getting ready to give it their all for the Sexual Assault Centre of Brant.
The tortoises are the centre’s mascots and the best of friends. But, on Saturday at 9 a.m., they’ll be coming out of their shells to participate in a fundraising race in support of the centre.
“The smart money is on Chyna,” Joanna Brant, the centre’s executive director and race promoter, said with a laugh.
“Chyna managed to escape one day and we searched a two-block radius, through a tornado warning no less, before finding her at 2 a.m. bravely making her way back home.
“But Baby has been working hard in training and so who knows who will show up for their best race on Saturday.”
The race will be livestreamed on the centre’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sacbrant/ starting at 9 a.m.
Like other local organizations, the centre has been hard hit by COVID-19. The pandemic forced the centre to postpone and then eventually cancel Lynnsie’s Run – a major fundraising event that brings in $25,000.
“It really hurt us when the pandemic hit and we were forced to cancel the run,” Brant said. “We were dealing with funding issues and then this happened and as an organization we were really feeling quite vulnerable.
“But, as often happens, difficult situations sometimes lead to new opportunities and we’re delighted with the support we’ve received from our volunteers, board members and the community.”
The run is named after Lynnsie Feijo, who was the centre’s first public educator and a board president. She died of cancer in 2016.
“We’ve had a couple of good years in terms of fundraising and participation and this year we set an ambitious goal of $40,000,” said board Karyn Pickles, who helped organize the run for the past couple of years. “We were really looking forward to it and then COVID-19 arrived.
“We really didn’t know what would happen but after it went on for a few weeks we decided we just had to cancel.”
But Pickles wasn’t about to give up entirely.
She and others decided to hold a virtual run. They called it Lynnsie’s Run 2020 (Still Here For You) and the event attracted 36 participants, including Maggie Kyle who raised $2,700.
Others have also stepped up to help out the centre, Brant said.
Carolyn Whipp and Amber-Lyn Farrington organized an online auction, which raised $20,000.
“A couple of other supporters, Amanda Mesereau and Chris George organized a T-shirt campaign,” said Brant. “And we’ve had people donate directly to us through Canada Helps or by e-transfer.”
Funds can be sent by e-transfer to sexualassaultcentre@sacbrant.ca .
“We also got a lot of support from Lynnsie’s sister, Jen Menzies, and Lynnsie’s husband, Mike Feijo,” Brant said. “During a time when we at the centre were trying to re-imagine how to show up for the community, the community showed up for us.
“We’re still here for you and we want to thank everyone for being there for us.”
The centre has been offering services remotely since the middle of March with staff providing phone or online sessions.
People looking for help can send an e-mail to sexualassaltcentre@sacbrant.ca or leave a message at 519-751-1164. The 24-hour crisis and support line is available at 519-751-3471.
The centre has added an online chat option to support people who either aren’t comfortable with the other options or don’t have the privacy or safety to use them. The online chat operates Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. To access the service click on ‘start a new chat’ button on the home page of www.sacbrant.ca .
Vball@postmedia.com
twitter.com/EXPVBall
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.