Organizers of the annual International Day of the Girl celebration in Moose Jaw have a fresh new idea to bring the leadership event to local girls while still following this year’s unique circumstances.
International Day of the Girl is organized each year by Jenn Angus from the Moose Jaw Transition House, Wakamow Manor Social Detox program director Jocelyn Macleod, and Deputy Chief Angela Sereda from Moose Jaw EMS, and while this year’s leadership opportunity will be a little different from previous years, it is still set to offer the same connection with local female leaders that organizers strive to encourage.
On Oct. 10, the day before the official International Day of the Girl, any school-age girls in Moose Jaw are invited to join in for a scavenger hunt at the Town 'n’ Country Mall, paired with a chance to meet local women leaders from the community — especially women who own businesses and are succeeding during COVID.
“A lot of the women that are business leaders in our community own stores in the mall, so that was a really good fit,“ said Angus. “And now felt like the best time to acknowledge those business leaders, especially those women, with all the struggles they faced in the last six months.”
Select businesses within the mall have jumped on board to participate in the event, including In essence Body Piercing, Chatters Hair Salon and Maurices.
The girls will be challenged to find a list of things in participating stores during the scavenger hunt before returning for a prize — and time will be of the essence, said organizers, as while there’s some great swag bags and door prizes, there’s a limited number of scavenger hunt prizes available.
There will also be the chance to meet and speak with some notable women leaders from the community, a feature that every International Day of the Girl event of the past has worked to include. This year, girls will have a chance to stop by the event’s table and chat with Staff Sergeant Trish Sieman from the Moose Jaw Police Service and Hawk aviation technician Shannon Sinclair from 15 Wing.
International Day of the Girl is an important thing to celebrate, to acknowledge the struggles that girls face across the world and celebrate the successes of those girls who emerge as leaders, but it’s also more than that in Moose Jaw.
The annual event also serves as a kick-off for the TruUnity girls group program in the city, which is still taking applications to join the leadership opportunity until Oct. 9.
This will be the first year the International Day of the Girl event has been offered publicly, rather than in partnership with local schools, and the new venue and more flexible format has organizers excited.
“I think this keeps it fresh, in a way of just doing something different and getting girls out into an area where [they can] socialize, be with their friends safely, and hopefully get something out of it,” said Sereda.
Hosting a virtual event this year was briefly on the table, said Macleod, but the organizers really wanted to offer an in-person opportunity for girls that could double as a social opportunity and cater to a larger age demographic than usual.
“We were trying to think outside of the box and how we can accomplish what we wanted, which was giving girls the opportunity to connect with leaders in our community,” said Macleod. “And the part that I like about the approach this year is that, for example, an older sister could take a younger sister to the event, or if you have a Grade 12 mentor taking a Grade 8 girl. It really broadens the age group able to attend.”
While it's a big change from the conference-style event organizers held last year, the trio is still hoping that young girls will take a positive message from the day.
“We always want to hear what the girls in the community like, what they are going through, so we can better provide supports and structure our girls group and our International Day of the Girl events to meet where girls are at,” said Macleod.
“I think it really leans into our name of TruUnity because it doesn’t matter what age you are, what social sector you’re from, it's all unity,” added Sereda.
The scavenger hunt on Oct. 10 will be first-come-first-serve, beginning at 12 p.m. and concluding at 3:30 p.m.
Applications to take part in the TruUnity girls leadership group this year are available from the administration at all of Moose Jaw’s high schools, and spots will be limited due to COVID-19 constraints.
