BY CALLIE WRIGGLESWORTH
A torrential downpour may have cancelled a planned walkathon, but it didn’t stop participants from raising money for the Cambridge Resource Pregnancy Centre. The walkathon was supposed to be held Oct. 26. Instead, people who raised money have agreed to walk on their own time with the option of walking one kilometre or five kilometres. The walkathon was put together to help raise funds to further develop the facility’s programs.
The centre, which is located at 119 Water St. N. in Cambridge, supports mothers-to-be and their families during an unplanned pregnancy or post-abortion trauma.
“We have a really small budget here. It is very volunteer driven,” said Pat Errey, the centre’s executive director. The centre offers help to mothers with things such as counselling services, support programs, free pregnancy tests, and supplies for babies, specifically for those moms in need. Their main focus is giving hope to women who think that their only option is abortion. Mothers are given support and help so that they can make an informed decision and not feel like they don’t have a choice.
“I think our average age is 17-24. Sometimes people see us as here for young teen pregnancies and certainly that’s a part of our work, for unsupported moms, but not necessarily,” Errey said.
“Really what we are here for is the abortion vulnerable women. Someone who is in a situation and who is pregnant unexpectedly or could be pregnant unexpectedly and is vulnerable to abortion, not necessarily by choice but by her circumstances.”
The organization holds fundraisers throughout the year.
“Basically we do three major fundraising events. We do a gala in the spring, we do a baby bottle fundraising drive in the late spring, early summer and this is our fall event. It sort of gets us through each season,” Errey said.
The board of the organization, which consists of all volunteers, plans and runs all of the fundraisers. The centre has about 10 volunteers in total.
As of Oct. 26, the walkathon had raised just over $2,000. However, that number should rise as funds are still being donated.
For more information about the Cambridge Pregnancy Resource Centre, visit www.pregcentre.com
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