International Women’s Day raises $27,700 for Women's House

Women’s House Serving Bruce and Grey hosted its annual International Women’s Day celebration, Saturday, March 3, at the Lakeshore Recreation Centre in Port Elgin. The event was a great success, raising $27,700 for the Women's House.

The doors opened at 6:30 p.m., and the crowd rolled in, many staying to enjoy themselves long after the formal part of the ceremonies was over.

The event is a celebration, as well as a major fundraisers for the Women’s House. The purchase of a ticket provided each guest with some great appetizers and a decadent dessert buffet. Some local restaurants even partnered with Women’s House to provide discounts or specials for dinner at their establishment beforehand to ticket holders.

From the moment people walked in the door, the evening was filled with fun and entertainment. Guests were led through the program by Joe Carter, the MC, DJ and auctioneer.

The annual Woman of Distinction award went to Dianne Pennington of Kincardine, a retired Kincardine District Secondary School teacher and coach, who continues to support and encourage women and girls to strive to be their best.

In her nominator’s words, Pennington has spent her life “giving her all and never asking for anything in return.” The audience was astonished by all she has done, and in Pennington's words, she “has no plans to stop now.”

Jaylynn Wolfe of Point Clark received the Young Woman of Distinction award for her work in promoting awareness of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and promoting and sharing her “vision of where she would like to see our world go.”

She arrived in her traditional Jingle Dress, and agreed to perform her Jingle Dance. She did an amazing job which earned her a huge round of applause. Her nominator praised her efforts and said, “She is making change. I am confident our future is in good hands with children like her.”

Keynote speaker, Kendra Fisher, talked about her journey from growing up in Kincardine, to being recruited to a national hockey team, destined to represent Canada which was a lifelong dream come true. Except, she had secret. Mental health issues were building to a point where they were standing in her way.  

She is now Breaking the Silence about mental health issues and women's stereotypes, and hoping to create a new awareness in Bruce, Grey, Huron and Perth counties, through some new initiatives and her organization, mentallyfit.com. She is also working to resolve the issues around access to needed resources.

Her words were powerful, and her message is clear: choose life, break the silence, and take action.

The evening also featured a fun Famous Canadian Woman Trivia Game (the first-prize Bose Bluetooth wireless speaker was donated by Bruce Power), silent and live auctions, and a door prize (earrings, donated by City Line).

In the end, there were five live-auction packages auctioned, for a total of $1,880; and 51 silent-auction items for a total of $3,025; with a grand total of almost $27,700 raised for the Women’s House. This exceeded the fund-raising target by $2,000!



Jaylynn Wolfe (left) of Point Clark receives the Young Woman of Distinction award, while Dianne Pennington of Kincardine receives the Woman of Distinction award at the International Women's Day, held Saturday, March 3, in Port Elgin; photo courtesy of the Women's House Serving Bruce and Grey