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Humboldt walks the mile for domestic violence awareness

They held their own and there were no broken ankles. The second annual PARTNERS Walk a Mile in her Shoes saw 46 men from all across Humboldt walking in red high heels to raise awareness about domestic violence.
Sporting the red heels for violence awareness
Randy MacLean, Andy Burgess, and Colby McClelland lead the march to stop rape, sexual assault, and gender violence during the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes walk in Humboldt on Jun. 9.

They held their own and there were no broken ankles.

The second annual PARTNERS Walk a Mile in her Shoes saw 46 men from all across Humboldt walking in red high heels to raise awareness about domestic violence.

The event raised over $10,000 to support outreach services in the 42 communities PARTNERS serves, says Hayley Kennedy, Executive Director at PARTNERS Family Services in a press release.

Big sponsors included RBC and Potash Corp along with numerous other businesses who donated equipment and food for the barbecue.

Nineteen local businesses also lent their support for the walk by sporting the red shoe chair in their businesses for photo-ops and registration promotion.

“Without the support of our local businesses, our fundraiser wouldn’t have been nearly as successful,” says Kennedy.

PARTNERS board chair, Andy Burgess sported the red high heels for the event.

Events like this get people thinking and discussing domestic violence, not just for men as the perpetrator, says Burgess, but also as men as survivors of domestic violence.

“People try telling us, not openly, that they are dealing with domestic abuse or suicide. They try sending signals but sometimes we just don’t catch those.”

The Walk a Mile event gets people talking so maybe they can get help, says Burgess.

Predominately, domestic abuse survivors are women but there are men who are abused as well that need to feel comfortable coming forward.

In both cases it is difficult to come forward but there is more of a stigma around men coming forward from abuse, says Burgess.

This years walkers were down from last years very successful first year of 125.

But Burgess says they are really hoping to keep the Walk a Mile an annual event, so Burgess is looking forward to making the event better next year.

Burgess encourages people to keep their eye on the calendar for next year and to come out and have some fun sporting those heels.

Check out our photo gallery for more pictures from the day.