It was a full house at the Bradford and District Community Centre on Wednesday as women gathered to celebrate women.
March 8 is International Women’s Day. It's a day that aims to honour women and bring attention to gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.
To mark the occasion in Bradford West Gwillimbury, a free brunch was held to revere the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women in the community.
"Our vision is to make this a yearly event where women from all walks of life can come together and celebrate one another," said event organizer Stephanie Sinclair.
Attendees were provided with a free catered lunch, entertainment and a discussion panel featuring business women and community leaders. Each attendee was given a rose when leaving the event to thank them for their participation.
"This event was to celebrate women as well as uplift and inspire them to take roles in leadership positions within business, politics and encourage young girls to get involved in STEAM (science, technology, engineering arts and mathematics)," explained Sinclair. "We hope that those in attendance took away tools to achieve their personal and professional goals."
Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney, who hosted the brunch, told BradfordToday that having women in positions of leadership is a key facet to ensuring equality going forward. As the first woman elected to town council in over a decade, she sees it as one of the most important days of the year.
"A day to not only recognize achievements by women, but to continue to push for equality," she said. "Education and understanding the need for improved equality and equity in communities is a large component of why the importance of events like this need to be highlighted."
Duhaney hopes the event will help open up the opportunity for more diverse voices being heard in the community and lead to people with different backgrounds to positions of power to properly represent the community as a whole.
For those who were interested, but unable to attend the brunch, there is another International Women's Day celebration taking place this weekend.
The Portuguese Cultural Centre of Bradford is hosting an event Saturday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. More information can be found here.
