For yet another year in a row, the generosity of the community has helped the Business Women of Moose Jaw make an impressive donation to the Moose Jaw Transition House, thanks to the success of the 7th Annual PRISM Awards earlier this year.
The annual awards gala celebrating the accomplishments of local Moose Jaw women took place on March 8, sneaking in just before the entire province began shutting down over coronavirus concerns.
This year’s event featured a sold-out crowd, much to the delight of organizers, and produced an impressive donation of $8,652 — over $850 more than the donation made after last year’s gala.
A donation of this size is incredible to see, said BWMJ president Kayla Dale, especially after a difficult year that has only continued to put stress on businesses and residents of the city.
“To me, that's really inspiring and it really speaks to Moose Jaw as a whole, and the people of Moose Jaw and how supportive they are, how selfless they are,” said Dale. “They don’t just give when things are good and there’s an abundance, but they also find room to give when things are a little bit tighter and I just think that’s really inspiring.”
Jenn Angus, Moose Jaw Transition House executive director, is also extremely pleased to receive the donation, as she is every year the PRISM Awards spotlights the non-profit organization.
A donation of this size will support more than 100 women in the community, said Angus, and help to continue an incredible cycle of empowerment and success within Moose Jaw.
“For us as a small nonprofit, a cheque of over $8,000 is a huge amount of money for us. This is so big,” said Angus.
Both Dale and Angus agreed that the PRISM Awards creates a special kind of cycle within Moose Jaw, as it raises money to support women when they’re most vulnerable so they can become the impressive community leaders who are celebrated each year at the gala.
“(With this donation), over a hundred women in the community will receive the support they need and then one day hopefully be the ones giving back, and the cycle continues,” said Angus. “So this is the leg-up they need to become those leaders in our community.”
Dale expressed gratitude to all of the community support for this year’s gala, as well as the event’s organizer Crystal Froese for making the 2020 PRISM Awards yet another successful event in Moose Jaw.
