International Women's Day is coming up fast, and a conglomerate of Portage la Prairie not-for-profits are hosting a free celebration.

Central Plains Cancer Services, Portage Community Revitalization Corporation, Portage and District Chamber of Commerce, alongside Military Family Services, have joined forces to celebrate local women. PCRC executive director Victoria Espey speaks more about the event.

"International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March the 8. This year, our event is on March 12, one year from last year's event," says Espey. "This year's theme is #choosetochallenge. A challenging world is an alert world, and individually, we're all responsible for our thoughts and actions all day, every day, and so we're celebrating choose to challenge this year."

The event will take place on Zoom this year, but Espey reminds the public you have to pre-register at this link to attend. This year's speaker is Jody Urquhart.

"Who is hysterical and captivating," says Espey. "I've seen her live in Winnipeg, and I was just so drawn in by the words that she was saying. We're excited to bring her to Portage, to share her message with our community."

There will be plenty of door prizes to give away and fun activities during the session. Participants will also get to hear from Chamber 2020 entrepreneur of the year Adrienne Hofer. The event has been a longstanding tradition for the organization, which has taken many different forms. Espey says the organizing committee wanted to take a light-hearted approach.

"For COVID this year, in particular, we thought it's important to have laughter, which is why we're bringing in somebody who's just so funny," says Espey. "We're all excited about this event in particular, and we hope people register."

You can find the event page here for more details.