The Portage la Prairie Bear Clan and the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation teamed up to celebrate their Noozhek program earlier this week.

The Noozhek program is a framework for Indigenous women and the Bear Clan to look for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The program was started in Portage after the Bear Clan was the recipient of the 150 Women Who Care grant of $10,000 back in 2021.

Bear Clan coordinator Manon Timshel says they held the Noozhek Indigenous Enrichment Gathering at the William Glesby Centre on Tuesday and they had three main reasons for holding this event: recruitment, recruitment, recruitment! They want to get more people in the community involved.

"One really important part of Noozhek is that we understand that life is busy and that it's hard to volunteer," says Timshel. "We're all busy. We're all going through COVID, we've all got family stuff. We want to offer everyone the opportunity to get involved and be a meaningful part of action and a meaningful part of change in Portage."

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"That's why we offer free food, free transportation to and from our office, free diapers, free feminine hygiene products for all of our Noozhek volunteers," says Timshel. "So, the way that works, is you come volunteer for an hour and leave with the package that best suits your needs. We've got some positions open on our leadership committee and our Indigenous Women Council, and we want more people in the community to get involved, learn about the awesome things we're already doing, and see the potential we have to do so much more."