The Portage Family Abuse Prevention Centre received some gifts from the La Prairie Lioness Club recently.

"Our members put together gift boxes made up of personal items for women that may be coming into shelter," explains Club President Anne Peters "Some things like toiletries and other things that women may not have ... because when you leave a situation in a hurry you don't bring everything. "

The Lioness Club works tightly with groups in the community to help where they can, and Peters was happy their members were willing to help. "We fundraise from the community and give back to the community. A couple of our priority areas are to support women and children in the community, that's our mandate. It's something we see as a top priority, although we support a lot of organizations, we decided as a women's group that we'd particularly like to focus on helping women and children in the community that are in need."

Portage Family Abuse Prevention Centre Executive Director Joyce Schroeder says it was a nice surprise and they're looking pretty set for the holidays.

"We get so much that we can't possibly give it all away at once, but when women come for counselling, or there's a birthday at the shelter -- or what have you -- there's always a little gift bag that we can give throughout the year as well," says Schroeder. "We're not sure about the numbers at Christmas time, but we're ready because of the generosity of clubs like the Lioness Club and many other individuals and businesses."

Peters add the Lioness Club will continue to help local organizations.