A Dairy Queen in Morinville is donating all of its blizzard sale proceeds on Thursday to support the first women’s shelter in the region.
Shovels will hit the ground in April for the construction of “Jessie’s Home,” which is named after Jessica Martel, a local young mother who was killed in front of her children by her common-law husband in 2009. James Urbaniak is serving a life sentence with no change of parole for another two years.
Her family started the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation in 2012 to help those who are trying to escape abusive relationships.
The owner of the fast food restaurant said she was touched by Martel’s story and wanted to help.
“Hearing her story and the goals of the foundation, it just caught onto us, and we just wanted to support the community and the foundation,” Michelle Cardinal said.
For the inaugural Blizzard Day, employees are also donating their wages for the day. Cardinal said she plans on holding another event next year.
“It’s great to have the community’s support,” said Andrea Duncan, Jessica’s cousin. “We just started as a group of women in my auntie’s living room with this goal and this dream. Now this dream is becoming reality.”
Jessie’s Home is anticipated to accommodate up to 11 families.
The shelter is already paid for but efforts like Dairy Queen’s help the charity with programming and staffing.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
