A woman will go back to her spouse an average of eight times before cutting the final ties.
It is stats such as this that propelled the groundwork for a small army of volunteers to establish Big Hill Haven Women's Shelter, seeking to build a family shelter with the spectrum of services to get women and children out of abuse and onto a better path.
Fast forward only a couple of years and the society is pushing hard through its capital campaign – with a goal of raising around $1M, or value equivalent in land, in order to be able to applying for large grant dollars.
"We've got a couple of different opportunities ... we're getting extremely close," said Big Hill Haven board co-chair Ana Botelho Clark, speaking to possible sites in Cochrane.
To date, around $250,000 has been donated through various fundraisers, benefits, events and drives in the community.
Upcoming fundraisers include The Home Team Showdown roller derby event on May 31 (see page 39 for story); the Royal LePage Allstar annual garage sale this Saturday, May 11 at The Lions Event Centre (contact the office with donations, sale begins at 9 a.m.); and a St. Andy's Rhythm and Roots production with roots/blues musician Suzie Vinnick on Saturday, June 1 at St. Andrew's United Church (tickets available online at cochraneunited.com or in person at The Noble Fox Coffee).
The shelter will also hold an official cheque presentation tonight at their monthly meeting. More than $13,000 was raised by Rival Boxing from the Boxing Beauties all-women boxing event held at the Lions Event Centre on April 27.
Just this week, the shelter was the selected charitable recipient by 100 Women Who Care Cochrane for this quarter, raising more than $4,000 and counting as of May 7. Over 30 women gathered at the Venue Bar and Grille on May 7 to present $4,300 to the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area – the first beneficiary of the local alliance this year.
The next 100 Women Who Care Cochrane event will be held at the Venue on Sept. 10 where the simple process has members – new faces welcomed – gather over snacks and refreshments to vote on deserving, local charities, shortlisted to three and a vote to pick the lucky recipient. Learn more on Facebook/100 Women Who Care Cochrane Chapter. The shelter will be presented with their cheque at the September meeting.
Learn more about Big Hill Haven at bighillhaven.com or through social media.
