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A group of men from Moose Jaw will try to walk a cumulative one MILLION miles this Friday night — and into Saturday morning, March 8 — to raise money for the Moose Jaw Transition House in honour of International Women’s Day, in a fundraising effort they are calling ‘Step Up for Her.’
“A huge thank-you to the men that are participating,” said Jenn Angus, executive director of the Transition House. “There are some returning men who have been incredible supporters for us over the years, through the Men’s Night Out in the Cold, and just generally in everything we do, they step up to support us and support the women and children that we support.
“And then there’s new men on the list this year that are stepping up to say, ‘We also want to be a part of this, how can we?’ And they went out of their way to figure out how they could get involved.”
The plan is for 25 men to walk 40,000 steps each through Friday night to gather pledges for Transition House. Discover Moose Jaw’s Gordon Edgar will be one of those men.
To pledge Gordon in the Step Up for Her fundraiser — or another participant you know! — go to the Transition House website, click Step Up for Her, fill out the form for your donation, and put the name in the indicated space: www.mj-transitionhouse.com/you-can-help/step-up-for-her.
“Usually, every year a group of us would do the Men’s Night Out in the Cold, and ... it didn’t get done last November,” explained John Iatridis, owner of the Mad Greek Restaurant and the main organizer of Step Up for Her, when the event was announced.
“So, I just worked with a lot of the same guys that seem to volunteer, not just for the Night Out in the Cold, but other things we do in town, and we got together and decided on this.”
Over the last three years, the Men’s Night Out in the Cold event raised well over $100,000 for Transition House, and Iatridis knew the money had been hugely helpful for the domestic violence shelter. That’s why he and the men he contacted decided to step up again, pun intended.
“Some of our staff have family members that are involved in it, as well,” Angus added, “so it’s really quite exciting, and we’re interested to see if these guys are able to meet their goal.
“I think they’re going to be able to. ... So, we’re incredibly excited for this and, I mean, one of the things that we’re promoting about it is what you guys are doing here. By ‘stepping up for her,’ we’re walking together towards a future free from violence.”
The Moose Jaw Transition House shelter supports more than 100 women and children fleeing domestic violence every year. The average length of stay is 21 days before shelter users can find a new home of their own.
The Transition House is more than just the shelter, too, supporting over 1,000 people every year through outreach and education programs such as Shelter Support Follow-up and a Children’s Program for kids exposed to violence. They typically assist over 500 people each year through their 24-Hour Crisis Line.