‘Man-Up Crusade’ calls rodeo crowd to show colors, raise awareness to big issues

IRON RIVER, Mich. (WJMN) — Advocates are asking rodeo-goers to show some bright colors over the weekend to raise awareness to issues affecting thousands in our community.

On Saturday, the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign supporting breast cancer awareness.

On Friday, organizers are asking people to wearing purple. That’s to show support for domestic violence awareness. We talked with Jeannie Donahue, who started the effort, along with her husband—an officer in law enforcement. They have been involved with rodeos for years and saw this as a way to make a difference.

“When we’re when we’re at an event, you’re in a booth and people walk by… and it’s interesting because you’ll see people walk by a couple of times,” said Donahue. “They may not say anything at first and then eventually will have the courage to come up and share their story. And it’s just you know, it’s heart-wrenching to hear what what people have gone through.”

But despite the heartache, Donahue said those conversations have been the start of a bright new chapter in people’s lives. “We’ve we’ve gotten cards back from organizations that we highlight at an event where they’ve said, ‘we had an individual come into our program that said they feel like they wouldn’t be alive today had they not been at the rodeo and learned about our program and realized that there was a way to get out.'”

Donahue said one way to break the cycle of domestic abuse is to educate the next generation. “Domestic violence is a learned behavior. so if you grow up in a home where domestic violence is happening, you are twice as likely to become either a victim or an abuser. If we can reach that younger generation and teach them that there are better ways to have relationships, there’s safe there’s healthy relationships,” then a new cycle may be stopped before it ever starts.

As an awareness campaign, Man-Up Crusade is highlighting Caring House in Iron Mountain. 100% of funds raised during the rodeo on behalf of Man-Up Crusade will go to Caring House. If you want to support the crusade directly, you can make donations on their website.

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