BASKETS OF COMPASSION
Helping women after Hiatus House
Imagine fleeing an abusive husband and then leaving an emergency shelter to start anew but with few belongings.
Mary-ann Stark of Lakeshore can’t imagine how that feels but was so moved by a volunteer project called Basketeers, that she started a Windsor chapter to donate baskets of essential items to women leaving Hiatus House.
Even though she only started asking people on social media to help in late August, Stark expects to receive more than 50 baskets Saturday. That’s beyond what she thought possible in a first attempt and enough to provide baskets for every woman at the 42-bed emergency shelter.
“I’ve had people come out of the woodwork. It’s amazing,” Stark said Friday.
People buy blankets, dishes, cutlery, soap and towels — basically anything to help a woman in the first few days of that transition from a shelter — and wrap it up with an encouraging note.
“We just really thought it was important to acknowledge their courage and let them know that they’re important and that somebody cares,” said Stark, the co-leader of Windsor Basketeers.
At this time of year people want to give to children, but mothers tend to get left out, she said.
Plus November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month.
The Basketeers will wear purple scarves to support the Wrapped in Courage campaign to end violence against women and children as the donors who pre-registered to make a basket drop them off Saturday.
Monday (Nov. 25) is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and people are encouraged to wear purple scarves, a symbol of courage, to show women and children they are not alone as they seek to live free of violence and abuse.
Stark said women fleeing abuse and violence may feel invisible and alone.
The note inside the basket tells the woman she is courageous and the items provide some basics and encouragement for the first few days of transition.
“I think that’s why this is so important to let them know that they have value and that they are cared for. They’re not invisible and what they’re doing is difficult,” Stark said.
Basketeers started in Toronto almost 20 years ago. It’s grown from 14 baskets donated to one shelter in 2000 to a volunteer group, mostly in Canada, that in 2018 supported 55 women’s shelters in Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and a county in Georgia with a total of 1,770 baskets.
The baskets have about $100 to $300 worth of items, Stark said. Some Basketeers start with a laundry basket and add essential items. Dishes, cutlery, glasses, dish cloths, dish soap and pots and pans.
Some people follow a theme by buying things mostly for the kitchen while others focus on other rooms in a new place such as bathroom towels, toiletries and a hair dryer or double/single sheet sets, a blanket, pillow and clock radio. She said the baskets aren’t to be divided up so it gives people a chance to show compassion and assemble their own unique basket.
The items must be new but don’t have to cover everything. Stark is already shopping the sales for next year’s basket and hopes others will register to create baskets next year.
To learn more, email windsor@ basketeers.org or visit basketeers. org.