Organization raising money for survivors of Spanish Indian Residential School

An organization serving female Francophone survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and harrassment in northeastern Ontario is raising funds for survivors of the Spanish Indian Residential School in Spanish, Ont. 

The Centre Victoria pour femmes is selling prints of the painting Community Care by Indigenous artist Mishiikenh Kwe, with all proceeds going towards the Spanish Indian Residential School Legacy Association. 

“The piece represents the importance of community, caring for others and taking care of oneself,” reads a blurb on the organization’s website. 

The charitable organization has been organizing an event or activity to recognize International Women’s Day for more than 25 years, according to Mireille Charlebois, assistant director of communications and technology at Centre Victoria pour femmes in Sudbury. 

“We thought we’d do a kind of call to action to our communities, so really encourage people to take an action in the line of the whole truth and reconciliation - put your money where your mouth is,” Charlebois said. 

The organization has sold nearly 100 prints a week-and-a-half into the fundraiser. 

“We’ve actually sold prints going across the prairies, right out into the west in British Columbia and even a few copies in the states, so we’re pretty impressed by that,” Charlebois said.

The prints are $40 each plus $5 shipping and handling and can be ordered through the Centre Victoria pour femmes website until March 31.