This holiday season, community members donating to YWCA Peterborough Haliburton can double their impact through the “Shine a Light in the Darkness” holiday fundraising campaign. Local sponsors have banded together to match up to $48,500 in donations made to the charitable organization until December 31.
A member of YWCA Canada, YWCA Peterborough Haliburton provides safe shelter, resources, and support to women escaping gender-based violence and abuse in Peterborough and Haliburton County. The organization has been holding the holiday giving campaign annually for more than 10 years.
“It’s an incredible initiative and it really encourages folks in our community to donate generously and we’re so grateful,” says the YWCA’s new director of philanthropy Tina Thornton.
The list of sponsors making the donation match possible include Linz Hunt of Royal LePage Frank Real Estate Electric City, Ontario Insurance Network, HTM Insurance in Cobourg, Herod Financial Services, Olivia and Gord James, Alena Heitlinger and David Morrison, Baker Tilly, and GM Financial. Several other individuals and businesses who are sponsoring the campaign have chosen to remain anonymous.
“It’s amazing that so many of them are donating so generously and don’t request any acknowledgement for that gift,” Thornton points out.
For a more personalized gift, donors can choose to sponsor a woman and a child together, or a woman or a child individually depending on need, in either Peterborough or Haliburton County. There are also smaller donation options to provide a meal or a gift to a woman or child, again depending on their need.
“The sponsorship program has been part of our holiday giving campaign for a few years now,” says Meghan Moloney, communications manager for YWCA Peterborough Haliburton. “It allows us to immediately provide some support, in the form of either gift cards or gift certificates to specific local businesses, to a woman staying in the shelter over the holiday season.”
Moloney adds the YWCA also encourages gift card donations as they allow the women and families to have the freedom to customize the gifts to suit their needs and preferences. The organization recommends donations of $25 gift cards from President’s Choice, Sobeys, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Glecoff’s Family Store in Haliburton, and local pizza places — locations requested by the women accessing the YWCA’s services — as well as pre-paid gas cards and pre-paid credit cards.
Thornton explains that donations to the holiday campaign are extra important this year, as the shelter has seen a large influx of women accessing their services over the past few years.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increased rates of gender-based violence across the country and across the world, referred to as the “shadow pandemic” by the United Nations. Rates of calls to help lines had a drastic increase immediately at the start of lockdowns.
Locally, the demand for services at YWCA Peterborough Haliburton reached new record-breaking highs in 2021. According to the organization’s 2023 annual report, there was a 70 per cent increase in the number of women who accessed the YWCA Crossroads Shelter from the previous year.
“Financially, our need is quite great this year, as over one-third of the cost for our wrap-around programming comes through donations from our community,” Thornton says. “The demand has unfortunately never been greater. We are also seeing a shift in the level of severity and complexity for the clients coming to us.”
The matched donations for the “Shine a Light in the Darkness” Campaign will support many of YWCA’s lifesaving programs and safe spaces, including shelter operation, the START program, the transitional housing and outreach program, well-being counselling, peer support programming, family court support, and basic necessities and food for the women and children staying in safe places.
“We like to refer to it as a journey of care,” explains Thornton. “It’s an umbrella of supportive programming that starts from the moment that woman makes the choice with that first crisis call — with counsellors there to support her 24 hours per day — right up to the point where we’re providing second-stage housing for her and she’s standing on her own two feet and regaining her independence.”
“By supporting our holiday giving campaign, community members can truly help shine a light in the darkness for those who need it the most,” adds Moloney.
Despite the increased demand for services at the YWCA, Thornton and Moloney remain encouraged by the amount of support they have seen from the community and will continue to see throughout the holiday season.
“We have a very philanthropic community,” Thornton says. “We’re incredibly optimistic and we really believe that our community will answer the call for support and, of course, we’re so grateful to those who have already made the choice to donate so generously.”
For a donation to be matched dollar for dollar up to $48,500, donations must be made by midnight on Sunday, December 31st.
To make an online donation, visit ywcapeterborough.org. Donations can also be mailed to YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, 216 Simcoe Street, Peterborough ON K9H 2H7 or over the phone by calling 705-743-3526.
