Bonnie Gitzel will never forget where she came from, and that’s why her family, including her husband Tim and children Bailey and Ty are making a significant donation to the Saskatoon YWCA’s Turning Points program. On International Women’s Day the Gitzel family has made a $100,000 donation to the program that aims to help women improve their lives.
Bonnie Gitzel says her mother and sister faced a decade of physical and sexual abuse, while she was fortunate to be young enough to not have memories of that time. She says her mother was able to escape her marriage, literally running away in the middle of the night, with absolutely nothing. The message she would like to send is never to give up, her mother and her were able to survive, thrive and help support her, after a long struggle, without the support that is available today. Now, Gitzel says there are programs and services that offer the support and assistance these women need in order to move forward.
Gitzel says the YWCA provides a lot of the amazing programs needed for support, and her family’s contribution is just the tip of the iceberg. She says on a monthly basis the YWCA has to turn away between 175 to 250 women and children, and there is so much more that needs to be done.
Gitzel states that International Women’s Day should empower all women, not only successful ones, but also women who have made tremendous efforts to better themselves and their families. She says what better organization than the YWCA to represent that.
