Digging deep to help kids in need

Winnipeggers opened their hearts and vehicle doors on the weekend to help give comfort to children who have been abused.

The Toba Centre for Children and Youth, a charitable child advocacy centre assisting abused children and families, held its first annual Healing Hope: Comfort Kid Drive on Saturday.

Supporters drove up to the centre to donate new clothing — including sweatshirts and winter wear — as well as other items, including colouring books, sensory toys, games and gift cards.

“I’ve brought various sizes of boys’ and girls’ clothes, some winter wear, some personal hygiene items and some toys and crafts,” said Lee-Ann Snydal as she opened her vehicle’s trunk and handed large gift bags of items to waiting volunteers.

“I know the work they do here and I know that some of the kids get here with nothing,” Snydal said.

“This gives them hope. You want to help as much as you can, 100 per cent.”

The Toba Centre for Children and Youth helps children, in a less stressful environment, meet with police and Crown attorneys, as well as medical, mental health and victim advocacy workers.

Christy Dzikowicz, Toba’s CEO, said it is all part of a multi-disciplinary team approach to investigations and Saturday’s event helps.

“This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” she said.

“Right now, 70 per cent of the kids and families we see here are from outside Winnipeg. So, in addition to dealing with the trauma and coming here as part of a child abuse investigation, they are away from home. This is the way the community can support these families when they are in town.”

Dzikowicz said the volunteers will take the items donated and curate them into comfort kits which they can use while staying in hotels.

“We get pyjamas and board games, maybe movie passes,” she said. “When we get cash donations, we put them to kids activities and stuff. When they are in the city they want to do kid friendly things as opposed to the reason they are here to see us.”

There are more than 200,000 reported child abuse and neglect investigations annually in Canada and Dzikowicz said the centre is on track to see 1,000 children and families this year.

“We have up to eight investigations a day,” she said. “This is a wrap around child abuse response centre.

“We have police who do criminal investigations, we have child protection agencies, who have an important role to play in making sure kids are safe, we have medical care that is required in a child abuse investigation, and then all the child victim advocacy and support all in one place.”

Mike Cavell, a member of the Platinum Jets, a charity created more than four decades ago by a group of childhood buddies from the North End who came together to help other charities, said they were glad to support the organization by being its event sponsor.

“When you tour the building, and see what they do and how they meet these needs, it’s kind of hard not to get behind it,” Cavell said.

“Everything they do here has costs and it is not all covered by the provincial government. When they came up with this project we jumped on board and were happy to help.”

To learn more about Toba Centre and to donate go to tobacentre.ca

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca