Victim services holding first ‘Dash & Dine’

In conjunction with National Victim of Crime Awareness Week (April 13-19), the Rainy River District Victim Services Program is holding its first-annual “Dash & Dine” this Sunday.
Following the theme “Finding the Way Together,” the event will feature both a run/walk on Sunday afternoon and then a dinner at La Place Rendez-Vous in the evening.
Registration for the walk will be at the RRDVSP office (334 Scott St.) starting at 12:30 p.m., followed by a “dash” at 1:30 p.m., starting at the Northwestern Health Unit office.
Participants will proceed all the way down Scott Street to the waterfront, then back along La Verendrye Parkway to Victoria Avenue, ending at the health unit.
This is a 4.5-km route, but there will be a rest stop at the Sorting Gap Marina.
RRDVSP executive director Monika Huminuk said yesterday that organizers are anticipating about 50 people for the walk so far.
“We’re always hoping for more,” she added. “The walk is geared to the whole family.
“Anybody that participates and pays the registration fee gets an official umbrella from victim services,” Huminuk continued. “We have little frog ones and little duck ones for the children so they can have some fun.
“We’ll have some face-painting going on.”
Those participating in the walk/run either must pay a $15 registration fee ($10 for children aged five-15) or collect a minimum of $25 in pledges.
Pledge sheets are available at the RRDVSP office.
Those who raise more than $75 in pledges will be eligible for various prizes (see the pledge sheets for details).
Alternately, they can pay $50 to cover both their registration fee and dinner ticket, or raise a minimum of $60 in pledges for the “dash” and get to attend the dinner for free.
Those who just want to attend the dinner can pay $40.
In the evening, the event will move to the Rendez-Vous, with cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the evening’s programming at 6:30.
Huminuk said about 100 people will be attending.
RRDVSP will celebrate the dedication of its founding members, current board of directors, and the exceptional volunteers working with the program throughout its first year.
“We’re honouring a lot of our founding members—people who have been involved in the program since 2002,” noted Huminuk. “We actually didn’t open our doors until last May, so you can see the long process and the commitment from the community it took.”
She added most of the founding members will be there Sunday to receive a token of appreciation.
The evening also will feature keynote speaker Melissa McCormick, who will tell her inspirational story of survival.
At 19, McCormick was kidnapped after her car broke down on a Detroit freeway. She was held against her will for 12 hours, during which time she was repeatedly gang-raped, beaten, and shot at.
While she didn’t expect to live, and even begged her captors to kill her, they ended up letting her go.
It is now 28 years later and McCormick is a successful businesswoman and mother of three still living in Windsor, Ont.
Due the nature of McCormick’s talk, the dinner is open only to people age 16 and older.
For more information, call RRDVSP at 274-5687.
In related news, the RRDVSP is bringing Kathleen Fitzgerald, manager of the sexual abuse/partner abuse treatment program at Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora, to speak here on Monday (April 14).
The free information seminar is called “Understanding the Dynamics of Sexual Assault and How to Respond to A Victim.”
Fitzgerald will be speaking at the Zion Lutheran Church (1105 Scott St.) at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Each session is three hours long.
Those interested in attending must call 274-5687 to pre-register.