Shop 4% Friday on November 19th to Support Skagit DVSAS

On the 4th Friday of every month, you shop and, together, we give! This year Skagit Valley Food Co-op has partnered with Skagit Community Foundation to make 4% Friday twice as nice with Double Donation Days! Skagit Community Foundation will be matching all of our 4% Friday giving for 2021.

Now, when you shop 4% Friday Community Shopping Days, your purchase will have twice the impact: on Friday, November 19th, we’re donating 4% of sales to Skagit DVSAS, and the Skagit Community Foundation will match our total to double the donation!

Photo Courtesy of Skagit DVSAS

The mission of Skagit DVSAS is to end domestic violence and sexual assault in the community through empowerment, advocacy, education, awareness, and action for social change. Their vision is for all people to live full, free, expressive, and empowered lives in a safe, vibrant, healthy, and peaceful community.

As the sole non-tribal, county-wide provider of DV and SA services, SDVSAS exists to improve the lives of survivors and eliminate interpersonal violence in Skagit County. Skagit DVSAS provides a variety of services to victims of abuse, offers extensive prevention and education training to children, youth, and adults in Skagit, and operates the only confidential emergency DV shelter and the only 24-hour hotline for victims of abuse in the county. By acting quickly when the pandemic arrived in Skagit County, SDVSAS was able to pivot all these existing services to meet government health mandates and continue providing support to victims of violence throughout community shutdowns.

Studies have shown that economic stress and hardship increase the risk of domestic violence and that victims of violence are more likely to remain in an abusive relationship if poverty and financial hardship will result from attempting to flee (Renzetti, 2009). The agency has seen proof of this with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government-mandated policies that were implemented alongside it.

COVID-19 and the resulting economic climate in Skagit County have resulted in an increase in interpersonal violence and a decrease in available services that agencies can provide. During the first two weeks of the pandemic, local police departments saw a 137% increase in high-risk domestic violence calls and have since observed a 20% rise in domestic violence in the county. While Skagit DVSAS was able to pivot its existing programs to support survivors virtually, the agency has had to limit the number of victims it can serve concurrently at its confidential emergency domestic violence shelter in order to ensure resident and staff safety and prevent infection. To avoid turning away eligible victims and their families, Skagit DVSAS began using hotel vouchers and funds from its emergency financial assistance budget to house and support fleeing survivors.

How will your shopping trip help Skagit DVSAS?

Funding from the Co-op’s 4% Community Shopping Day will be used to supplement the agency’s existing hotel voucher funds and emergency financial aid budget. This will ensure that Skagit DVSAS can continue to house survivors and their families when the shelter is at capacity during these trying times.