This year’s edition of Dance 4 Hope had more participants and brought in more funds for the Hope Resource Centre than ever before.
When it was all said and done June 24, the final tally topped 30 people and $12,203 raised, a marked increase over the $10,000 collected in 2017.
All the money goes to support the continued operation of the Hope Resource Centre (HRC), which supports and advocates on behalf of victims of family violence.
“It was way beyond my expectations,” said HRC executive director Sylvia Yoder of the event held at Georges L. Whissell Park, adding she noticed a lot more mother-daughter teams and more men than in previous years.
“It was a very, very exciting and cool event on Sunday and what really touched my heart was some of the people who stepped up and said they would be here next year, the women that are a consistent support and the next generation that was represented very effectively this year.”
Residents from around the region showed up to Jazzercise with instructor Kerri Wiegand to the music provided by DJ Benita Pedersen and there was also a garage sale and barbequed hot dogs available for anyone else who stopped by to support HRC.
The funds raised will go towards paying much of the centre’s rent for the year, said Yoder.
“The money is very heartwarming and it helps. We’ve decided it’s going to be a little tight this year as we don’t have a casino scheduled until 2019, so we’re going to put this towards rent,” she said, adding the total rent paid by the organization is just over $15,000 for the year.
“The majority of grants are for project funding and not operational funding, so this is really, really important to keep us in place. I think it’s really important to have this little nest for people to feel safe. This is huge,” she said.
Yoder said the centre is always in need of funding to provide the services it delivers to victims of family violence, and the area always steps up.
“The community has met our needs beyond effectively ... we just keep plugging away and miraculously, this community just keeps stepping up. I have no complaints about what we’re getting from this community. It’s one of the most giving.”
