NORTH BAY -- A group of college students in the social service worker program at Canadore College in North Bay is organizing an upcoming trivia night to raise money to support the city’s sexual violence support centre.

Student Megan Kratky and her classmates are hoping to make a difference in the lives of victims of gender-based violence who use Amelia Rising Sexual Violence Support Centre.

They hope "to raise awareness about this organization and to educate for social change," said Kratky.

As part of one of her classes at Canadore, Kratky and a handful of her classmates have to complete an assignment to hold a community event for Amelia Rising. The group put their heads together and decided to hold a virtual fundraising trivia night.

"I'm from down south, but having learned about Amelia Rising and all the work they do to support the community, it has been great to learn about the impact they make," said Kratky.

Enhance counselling services

All of the funds raised from the trivia night will go to the centre so it can enhance its free counselling services for victims aged 12 and up in the Nipissing District, food for its clients and bus tickets to make the services more accessible.

"The donations are really going to mean a lot to our clients and the community that we're serving," said Kylee Bakowski, education coordinator at Amelia Rising.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Amelia Rising can only see its clients via teleconference or by phone call. The waitlist to see a counsellor is backed up and has doubled in size. Bakowski said a portion of funds raised will also go the centre’s education and outreach programs.

"We are working on expanding our team of counsellors to reduce that waitlist,” said Bakowski. “We have a really great team that is able to get folks in to do support visits if they're not able to start counselling right away."

Kratky said the class project has taught her team more about the stories survivors share and the need for all victims of gender-based violence to speak out.

"For us, it meant a lot hearing what other people have faced and what we can do to support the centre, even if we're not accessing the services ourselves,” said Kratky.

Tickets for the event are by donation only. You can find the tickets here.