LOVE YOU run back in person for My Sisters’ Place

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions the LOVE YOU by Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Women is back in support of My Sisters’ Place in London.

This is the fifth year for the event and the first time it will be in person once again at Harris Park Sunday morning.

Kristy Bell, the manager at My Sisters’ Place (MSP) says they hope to get the largest crowd to date with more than one thousand runners and walkers taking part and raising money.

She says MSP helps the most vulnerable women who are at risk in our community.

“These funds are very much needed so we can continue to support women in our community with wraparound services, whether that be basic nutrition, needs or harm reduction, it’s a safe place for them to come,” says Bell.

Louise Blakey walked into My Sisters’ Place in 2002 and says it saved her life.

“I left an abusive relationship, was homeless and suicidal,” says Blakey. “As soon as I walked into My Sisters’ Place I felt welcomed and loved like never before.”

Blakey says she is now back on her feet with a place of her own and training to look for a job.

Shoppers Drug Mart and My Sisters’ Place say last year through a virtual run they were able to raise more than $114,000 and on Sunday they are hoping to top that.

“We are proud to be a part of this event and help women in our community,” says Lizanne Pretorius, an owner of a Shoppers Drug Mart location.

Bell says money from this run keeps the doors open because MSP must raise eighty percent of their operating expenses.

“It’s essential, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without it,” says Bell.