The sky was cloudy and the wind was cool Friday, but that didn’t stop men from putting on high heels and walking along the riverfront at the 4th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.
“We see our doctors, our peace officers; we see people from our education system, different clubs represented. Lots of people here, who are in their own way, involved,” said Mike MacLean, the event’s master of ceremonies.
Walk a Mile is an annual event that takes place all over the world, raising money and awareness for rape, sexual assault and gender violence.
“It’s men walking to say that they won’t tolerate violence against women because of their gender. So, it’s a great way for men to get involved with the fight against relationship abuse,” said Brenda, who works with women as part of the Thrive program.
A total of 23 men took part in the event, some choosing to wear dresses along with heels.
This year’s edition raised more than $11,500 with corporate sponsor, Royal LePage, donating $4000 and Servus Credit Union donating $250. Of the walkers, David Chaisson raised the most money at $845 with Dale Kapitaniuk coming a very close second, raising $835. Lewis Semashkewich raised the third most at $580.
All of the money goes to Thrive, a local support program for those suffering from domestic abuse.
“We have an outreach worker who works directly with clients, one on one, meets in the office, goes to their home, just talks on the phone even; and support levels are tailored to what that person needs,” MacLean said.
“Also, there’s awareness programming that goes out to our schools, seminars like ‘Hands are not for Hitting, Words are not for Hurting’, that go out to Grade 2 students.”
The men walk had some limping by the end, others dancing. For a part of the trip, they walked beside groups of shoes set up to symbolize the 61 adults and 93 children helped by Thrive during the year.
“That is not how many people are impacted by domestic violence or relationship abuse. That is how many people have reached out for help. So, remember that there is a lot more that need to reach out. So, thank you so much for stepping out and doing this for us,” said Brenda.
“Thank you to all the walkers, to all of you who sponsored a walker, to everyone who bought tickets for the quilt. This is a close to my heart cause, this is something that touches us all.”
