As demand at women’s shelters steadily climbs across Nova Scotia, so does Annika Bell.
This summer, Bell is raising money for organizations that support women who have experienced sexual assault or are fleeing situations involving intimate partner violence.
For every dollar donated to her GoFundMe campaign, ‘Stairs for Support,’ Bell promises to climb five floors on a StairMaster machine, until she reaches the equivalent height of Mt. Everest.
“I wanted to set a really high standard for myself and I kind of thought, ‘What’s tall and big that I could climb,’ right?’” she laughs.
And she’s already two-thirds of the way there — but at a whopping height of 29,000 feet, she’ll need more donations to reach the summit.
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“You got work, you got friends — you got your own life right?” Bell says.” But I always found there’s a little time in the day to help someone somewhere.”
Stairs for Support is already making an impact, with donations made to Adsum House and Avalon, which supports survivors of sexual assault.
“(Donations) would go to our general, everyday food allowances at the house, to help us in providing food and snacks, and also some activities for the people that live in our shelter and in some of our housing locations,” says Kathy McNab, fund development officer with Adsum for Women and Children.
“Every single month the demand seems to be greater in the last two years.”
McNab adds that about 80 per cent of the people they help are escaping situations of domestic and intimate partner violence.
“It’s great that people are more aware of it now that issue is there, and yes, it is increasing,” McNab says. “You know, when people are struggling to put food on the table, it’s going to create some tensions in a family. So, if violence is a part of that, it’s going to increase for sure.”
Which means making any donation — big or small — means the world.
“It motivated me, not only to raise money for these centres, but also survivors,” Bell says “Letting them know they’re not alone.”
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