By McKENZIE CUNNINGHAM
Tiger Media Network
October is an important month for the members of the Women’s Leadership Project at Fort Hays State University.
With Domestic and Dating Violence awareness month, the Women’s Leadership Project has partnered with Tigers in Service for a service event with Jana’s Campaign.
“The Women’s Leadership Project is thrilled to be partnering with Tigers in Service to host the Jana’s Jewelry event,” said Brooklynn Bracelin, student coordinator of the Women’s Leadership Project. “We are continually striving to bring awareness to the issues of dating and domestic violence, and since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we find it so important to bring light to these issues and support other organizations working towards the same goal as us. We can’t wait to host this event with Tigers in Service while making an impact on our community.”
Bracelet making begins at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in Cody Commons by Mondo’s on FHSU’s campus and is free and open to the public.
The service event includes bracelet making with Tigers in Service and the Women’s Leadership Project to help Jana’s Campaign and its events. Each event they go to includes a box of bracelets with a resource card that includes resource numbers, warning signs of violence and more.
“Jana’s Jewelry is an important event for Tigers in Service to be a part of because it raises awareness for more than just service opportunities,” said Kaiti Pell, an FHSU student. “It allows our organization to be part of something even bigger than strictly service hours and events.”
Jana’s Campaign is an organization that not only promotes prevention of violence, but also helps to prevent relationship and gender violence. Jana’s Campaign helps to not only educate those in community, high school and college settings, but also promotes programs that prevent dating and sexual violence, along with stalking.
The campaign has reached nearly 60,000 elementary and high school students to help spread awareness, but organization officials know more needs to be done. With the help of students and community members, Jana’s Campaign hopes to have enough resources to give everyone a resource card.
“The Women’s Leadership project states that this is a real-life service project that benefits real life students in the state of Kansas, and now leading to other states,” said Christie Brungardt, founder of Jana’s Campaign.
Brungardt is excited for the project and hopes it turns out well to help get the organization’s name out into different settings.
The Women’s Leadership project not only is participating with Jana’s Campaign, but also with the Red Flag Campaign for the ninth year in a row. With posters and flags spread throughout the Quad and around Memorial Union, the group hopes to raise awareness and be able to talk about what the red flags mean.
The WLP also invites people to attend the Clothesline Project at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 24. Participants will have the opportunity to decorate shirts to help spread awareness about violence with men, children and women. The shirts will be hung in the Quad to represent those who have been victims.