Local Royal Purple Lodge’s team up in support of fifth annual Purple Thursday

Spearheaded by the Prince Albert and Shellbrook Royal Purple lodges, the group’s combined their efforts to make nearly 60 small purple “Care Bags” filled with a variety of care products, including shampoos, conditioners, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and other things that the women may not have when they leave their place of violence. The bags will be donated to the Prince Albert Safe Shelter for Women.

“It’s just like a hug from us to them, and a way to say we care about you and we’re thinking about you,” said Ahenakew, adding they rely on donations to help those who need it, and that work on the Care Bags begins in June.

“We prepare months in advance and get the donation lists out. We’ve got $500 donation from Prosperity, $200 gift card from Co-op, and we get all sorts of donations from all over. An anonymous donation came in from a lady sitting at Greenfields; she saw us in our purple shirts and gave us $50 to our cause.”

BrendaLee Pellerin is a support services worker at the Safe Shelter for Women. She said that the Care Bags will not only help women at the shelter, but also the children that come through.

“When a lady comes in and she does her intake, sometimes they come with nothing. No shampoo, no brush, no toothbrush, anything like that. So, these bags are a definite gift to our ladies to be able to have some kind of normal when they come in and not have to rely on worrying about where they’re going to get shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, underwear, socks for their kids and themselves.”

“The bags that they bring are very helpful to the ladies and the children that we have. We refer to them as ‘blessing bags’ and it is a blessing truly that an organization puts so much thought into women and children going through domestic violence,” she continued.

Nationwide, this Purple Thursday is expected to be a historic year as the need for Care Bags has seen a huge spike. In 2025, Royal Purple Lodges across Canada combined for roughly 5,000 Care Bags that were handed out, while 2026 is poised to see over 10,000 bags given to women in need.

In 2024, according to Statistics Canada, 81 women were killed by a spouse or intimate partner, which works out to six women every month.

In a 2025 national survey, Statistics Canada reported that about 45 per cent of women and 35 per cent of men have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime – nearly half of all women and one-in-three men. That includes emotional, psychological, financial, physical, and sexual abuse by a current or former partner.

-with files from paNOW’s Nigel Maxwell and Statistics Canada

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

Local Royal Purple Lodge’s team up in support of fifth annual Purple Thursday

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