Women Who Inspire honoured

The Grand banquet hall in Belleville was the scene of the annual Women Who Inspire Gala Thursday.

Close to 200 people attended the event sponsored by Business and Professional Women Hastings & Prince Edward and the United Nations Association Quinte Branch.

Three women from different walks of life were recognized for their ongoing efforts fostering empowerment, leadership, and economic opportunity for women in their communities.

First to be honoured was the Deputy Chief of the Belleville Police Service Sheri Meeks who has had a widely varied career in what has been seen as a traditionally male occupation.

Meeks started as a patrol officer in 1996 and has been a sexual assault investigator, a criminal investigator, and a crisis negotiator, along with other positions.

Meeks said women in traditionally male fields don’t have it easy.  They have to prove themselves every step of the way.

“So when I was on the road I had to get into my first physical fight before somebody went “she’s got it!”  When I became Sergeant I had to hold ground, give direction and be firm and I had to prove that.”

Years ago she attended a seminar in Durham Region for crisis negotiators and she was the only woman in a crowd of 50 men.  “That was tough but I held my head up and told myself I’ve got the same training they do and I deserve to be here.”

Meeks said more support was available for women in policing careers now than there used to be and the Belleville Police Service has almost reached its goal of having females make up 30 per cent of the service by the year 2030.

Currently, 26 per cent of employees are female, however, just 13 per cent are in ranked officer positions, something Meeks said she’s working to change.

Meeks said she’s also working to encourage female officers to concentrate on supporting each other instead of competing with each other.

Perhaps her most important advice to women is not to let their career consume them.  “I’m a mother, a wife, an aunt, a best friend, not just a police officer.  We have to remember to look after our own health.”

Another woman in the spotlight for her work in the community was Linda Downey who founded, along with her husband Bob, the Storehouse Wellington & District Food Bank.

From modest beginnings in her home the food bank is now operating from a church in Wellington and it may be moving into a larger location in the not-too-distant future.

Storehouse Food Bank is helping feed over 400 people in the county twice week.

As a young person, Downey was a victim of sexual assault and lived a difficult life.  Someone’s random act of kindness helped turn her life around.

Downey said she vowed to “pay it forward” after someone offered her a food hamper knowing she was only feeding her kids and not herself as a poor single mother.  She once went several days without eating.

“I wanted to inspire my kids and my grandkids to help out the community, help your neighbour, even if it’s just shovelling their driveway.  Neighbours helping neighbours is what makes a community and if you want to live in a community where you feel loved and wanted then you have to help each other out.”

Over time the food bank has expanded with a backpack, snowsuit, and Christmas angel programs.  Holiday hampers are also donated to those in need in the county, as well as clothing and household items.

The third woman of distinction to be recognized was local artist Emebet Belete, a native of Ethiopia.

Belete said she learned early that art could be anything after her studio burned down years
ago leaving her without most of the paints she’d been using in her artwork.

“I learned that art could be paper, stones, trees, glue, and yarn.  I am now a mixed media artist.”

These days yarn and crocheting are at the heart of an ambitious project Belete is spearheading.  She
has organized people not only in the Quinte region but in other communities to get together to crochet
colourful squares that will eventually entirely cover the old upper bridge at the north end  of Front Street in downtown Belleville.

The project is called “Bridging Communities.”  Learn more about the “Bridging Communities” project here.

Belete had originally hoped to cover the Norris Whitney Bridge in crochet but was told the city didn’t own the bridge.

Belete, who’s taught art in many schools in the area, says it’s been a wonderful experience having people gather to create something special, adding that art is much more than what meets the eye.

” … and I have realized over the years that art is about connecting with ourselves, the world, and our community.”

Belete is still looking for volunteers to work on the project and for donations.  If you’re interested more information is available here.

All proceeds from the gala and auction will be donated to Alternatives for Women, an organization that operates a women’s shelter and associated services and programs.

Crowd holds hands to sing a song of inspiration to end the Women Who Inspire Gala 2025. (Photo: Quinte News)