Westlock’s Dave Lent said walking a mile in silver women’s shoes wasn’t easy, but it was well worth it.
The 66-year-old Lent was one of roughly 40 volunteers who participated in the first-ever Walk A Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser that wound its way through Westlock on Friday, Sept. 13. The event not only raised around $5,000 for the Hope Resource Centre, but created awareness about violence against women.
“I didn’t even wear the heels,” said Lent with a chuckle. “And I know that I wouldn’t want to walk in those shoes any longer than I had to do it. It definitely gets you to appreciate the things that people have to go through.”
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes was created by Frank Baird in 2001. It started out as a small group of men daring to totter around a park in high heels and has become a worldwide movement with thousands of men raising money for local rape crisis centres, domestic violence shelters and other programs.
Stats indicate there are roughly 13,010 victims of family violence across the province and the statistics for aboriginal are much worse — spousal abuse for Aboriginal women is almost three times more likely than it is for others.
“I think it’s important to come out to these events because you can’t just worry about things that happen in your area, you worry about the things that happen in Westlock as a whole,” said Westlock County reeve Charles Navatril, who took part in the event.
“It’s a good program and it’s too bad there’s abuse out there, but it’s out there so we might as well face the facts and see what we can do about it.”
The local group marched from the corner of 97th Street and Highway 44 to the Georges L. Whissell Park while toting signs made and donated to the HRC by students from R.F. Staples and the Outreach School.
“I think today exceeded any expectations that I had for this event,” said HRC manager Sylvia Yoder, noting the group’s determination to inform the community.
Yoder added they’re optimistic about raising nearly $5,000, however the money is still being counted.
“The community of Westlock donated $3,653.15 to our fundraiser with more donations coming in Monday,” said Yoder.
“Our primary goal was community participation and a financial goal of $5,000. I am confident we will be successful in reaching this goal. We are touched beyond measure with the generosity from our community.”
All of the money raised will go right back into resources for the community.
“The money stays locally,” said Yoder. “It’s from the community and it’s going right back into the community. Absolutely. It’s going to be used for supports for relationship abuse.”
As for big contributions, ATB Financial raised more than $1,300 for the cause.
“I think it’s a great cause,” said local branch manager Anthony Ferdinand.
“The (HRC) helps a lot of individuals and a lot of families, and family is important to me so it only makes sense.”
That amount may increase, he added, depending on what ATB Financial Corporate decides to pony up.
Ferdinand attended the event wearing a black dress, clip on earrings and a stunning pair of vibrant red pumps.
“The team that I work with inspired me,” he said. “They were wanting to see me wear a dress and the accessories that came along with it, so I put the challenge out there that if we can raise enough money, I’d be more than happy to do so. The only thing I want to stress is that for one hour, for me to put on a pair of women’s dress shoes and a dress, still pales in comparison to what these families have to go through so I just want to stress that it’s the least that I can do.”
