By Becky McMullen [1]
BELLEVILLE – Belleville residents will be ditching the traditional October colours of black and orange for purple this year to raise awareness for child abuse.
The purple ribbon campaign has been made an official event in the community by Mayor Taso Christopher. The goal of the month is to help people recognize the signs of abuse and neglect, according to Highland Shores Children’s Aid [2].
Over 1,000 families have been assessed by the children’s aid, which works in Hastings, Northumberland and Prince Edward counties. Of those families, 637 were provided with ongoing support.
Highland Shores Children’s Aid will also be hosting special “go purple” hockey games [3]. The teams include the Belleville Senators, Trenton Golden Hawks, Wellington Dukes, Picton Pirates and Cobourg Cougars. The Belleville Sens fans will be showing their support for the campaign in the games this Friday and Saturday.
On Oct. 24, schools and children’s aid societies will be working together to encourage people to wear purple.
With files by Syerra Turry [4].
