The Ion Center for Violence Prevention in Covington will participate in the 16th-annual Shop & Share on Saturday, February 10.
From 9 a.m.-3 p.m., shoppers at Northern Kentucky and Buffalo Trace Kroger locations will be greeted by an Ion Center volunteer and handed a wish list as they head into the store. Customers are asked to choose one or more of the simple grocery items from the list, purchase it, and leave it with Ion Center volunteer as they walk out.
All donated items will be used to stock the pantry shelves of the Ion Center’s two area shelters for individuals and families fleeing domestic violence.
Over the past 14 Shop & Share events, more than $5 million in goods and monetary donations have been raised for the 15 domestic violence shelter programs that make up Kentucky’s domestic violence coalition, ZeroV. All donations directly help domestic violence programs provide life-saving shelter and supportive services to the women, men, and children in Kentucky who seek crisis intervention as well as assistance in rebuilding their lives after abuse.
At the Ion Center, a survivor is never responsible for the cost of their healing. All services are free and confidential. Programs such as Shop & Share make it possible for agencies across the state to provide these types of services to the people who need it most.
In 2023, The Ion Center provided 16,302 safe bed nights for individuals and families fleeing domestic abuse and served 48,906 meals. The agency also provided 4,080 hours of intervention services, 762 hours of legal/court accompaniment, 641 hours of hospital accompaniment responding to 272 emergency room calls, as well as providing support on 4,125 hotline and text conversations.
“I am so grateful to be part of a region that cares about people who are impacted by violence,” said Christy Burch, Ion Center CEO. “We know we can measurably reduce the number of people hurt by violence, but we need everyone’s help. The importance of an event like Shop & Share cannot be overstated. This one day fills the shelves of our shelters’ pantries for the entire year, so we are able to focus on other things.”
This year, the Ion Center is partnering with CraftForce for its drop-off location. Both Ion and CraftForce are located on Madison Avenue in Covington. After donations are picked up by volunteers from local Kroger stores, they will be dropped off at CraftForce, where another team of volunteers will be sorting and boxing the items so they can be delivered to the Ion Center shelters.
“Having the support of CraftForce for this huge event is just one more example of how business collaborations are making our community that much stronger, and we’re thankful for their partnership,” said Burch.
Learn more about Shop & Share or donate online by visiting ioncenter.org/events.
Ion Center for Violence Prevention
