Charity run for women in St. John's raises $75K for Stella's Circle

More than 700 people pounded the pavement in St. John's on Sunday for the Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Women.

The annual run, which offers 1K, 5K and 10Koptions in the Quidi Vidi area, raisesmoney for Stella's Circle, a housing-focused charity.

"It's a beautiful showing from the community to support women," said Stella's CircleCEO Laura Wintersof the $75,000 raised this year.

"That's going directly into our programs that support women's mental health at the Just Us Women's Centre, which works with women who have criminal justice histories, as well as the Naomi Centre shelter for young women."

She said the money from the annual runis used to fund initiatives that the charity's core government funding doesn't cover.

"Our staff go back and forth to the Clarenville Correctional Centre for Women. Recently, we are working on a greenhouse project out there, so doing horticultural therapy with women who are incarcerated. And so the funds go into those kinds of initiatives."

Winters said the funds will also go toward their housing programs.

The run is held across Canadain 18 different cities to support women's mental health. Winters said those supports are even more vital in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"I think about the high rates of domestic violence in this province that are higher than the national average. I think about the wage disparity for women in this province. I think about all the extra work that women do caring for children, I think about the disparity between gender and equality in this province," she said.

Winters said that's why the province needs more mental health support for women.

"Those supports need to be woman-centred, they need to be feminist, they need to be trauma-informed, and that's exactly what we deliver."

'We see it every single day'

Stephanie Davis, a pharmacist and associate owner ofa Shoppers Drug Mart in St. John's, echoed that sentiment on stage at the run.

"I am a pharmacist, but I am also a mother, I am a daughter and I am a sister and I myself am also a victim of sexual assault, and that is the reason of my being here today," Davis said.

"It is through the strong women in my life and the supports that were available to me at that time that I am able to be where I am today, no longer a victim but as a survivor."

Davis told CBC News thoseproblems are common among women in the city.

"We see it every single day in our business, in our lives, and people who you don't know are struggling, are still struggling," she said.

Around 40 people signed up for the run at Davis's Shoppers store, the highest number out of all the stores in the province. She said the run was a great experience.

"You can actually feel the energy and support," Davis said.

"It's positive, it's cheers, it's enthusiasm and it's that positivity and encouragement that really propels us forward."

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