Fundraising help on the way for London Abused Women's Centre through LOVE YOU program

London, Ont. -

The impact of the pandemic has made for a difficult run for the London Abused Women's Centre, with more demand and less funding.

“The need right now is tremendous, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on women globally and locally,” says Fabienne Haller, with the LAWC. “Our numbers for service rose in the first couple months of COVID by 54 per cent for urgent support services.”

At the same time, fundraising dollars went down. Haller adds, “ We can no longer have the same kind of population within a room to have an event.”

However help is on the way in the next month with all Shoppers Drug Mart Stores across Canada pitching in at the till and online with the LOVE YOU Program.

In London all 22 locations are collecting donations for LAWC.

“The LOVE YOU by Shoppers Drug Mart Foundation is run by all of our stores across the country,” says Nick Vander Gulik, a pharmacist with the company. “This year we’re trying to raise about $2.4 million to help victims of domestic violence.”

All of the money raised over the next month at local Shoppers will go directly to helping women with front-line counselling services at LAWC. The program is running from Oct. 9 to Nov. 5.

“The generosity of this community is what’s going to help us to keep our doors not only open but to continue to meet our mandate,” says Haller. “To provide immediate access to service to any abused woman or any abused girl that reaches out to us.”