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Community members work to end child abuse – #IBREAKthesilence

October 24, 2018

GUELPH, Ontario – On October 24, Guelph community members gathered at the Guelph Black Heritage Society’s (GBHS) Heritage Hall to talk about child abuse prevention.

October is Child Abuse Prevention Month in Canada. As part of the month Dress Purple Day was recognized by Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County (FCSGW), the Upper Grand DSB and many other Guelph and Wellington County community partners on October 24.

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During the event at the GBHS Heritage Hall, staff members from FCSGW, municipal representatives, FCSGW donors, school board representatives and representatives from the Guelph Police Service and Wellington County OPP put on their best purple shirt and listened to speakers talk about ending child abuse.

FCSGW was on hand to answer any questions and to talk about their history in our region. This year marks the 125th anniversary for FCSGW and it was amazing to hear FCSGW Executive Director Sheila Markle share perspectives about how the organization has evolved and how over 90% of the work they do is to ensure they keep families together.

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GBHS President Denise Francis was the first guest speaker. She shared the history of the Heritage Hall building, as well as the history of the GBHS in our community.

Those at the event had the chance to hear from Warden of Wellington County Dennis Lever and Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, as they shared the importance of protecting all children and how everyone has the responsibility to report the abuse of a child.

The final guest speaker at the event was Don McKay, the Chair of the Board of Directors at FCSGW. McKay did not talk about the need to end child abuse, but instead issued everyone at the event a challenge. McKay challenged everyone not to only think about preventing child abuse in October, but to start conversations and actively participate to put an end to child abuse 365 days a year.

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For more information about Dress Purple Day, visit the UGDSB website and the FCSGW website.

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