The Magdalene House is yet another step closer to their goal of opening their doors to victims of human trafficking.

Fundraising efforts have been ongoing since the Magdalene House’s inception in 2009 and David Bouchard, president of the board of directors for the Magdalene House, said their goal is to have enough funds for one year of operations before opening.

“Right now we are close to full on funds but we are still in need of a certain amount of funding before we open our doors,” said Bouchard.

He added that they have made application to the Victims Fund through the federal government and that it is looking good as there has been an open line of communication regarding the status of the application.

“What we have been told is that (the federal government) does have money set aside to help people who are exploited through human trafficking and they have verified that they are reviewing our application.”

Bouchard said the team working towards the end goal of a housing facility here in Red Deer is very excited over all of the progress being made and the possibilities ahead.

The Magdalene House has an upcoming charity golf event that Bouchard said should be a lot of fun. “We are doing a Texas scramble where everybody has kind of a shot-gun start on different holes,” he said.

The event is taking place at Whispering Pines, at Pine Lake, on Sept. 6 with a registration deadline of Sept. 1 for participants.

“It’s 18 holes of golf, you get a cart and a lunch and an evening meal of a roast beef dinner. We definitely have room for more people to register, whether it’s as a team of four or an individual who we can place on a team.”

The cost to register is $425 for a team of four or $110 for an individual.

At the event there will also be a silent auction with items ranging in size and cost. Bouchard said there is something for everyone.

Previous events for the Magdalene House that people may have taken part in include the Freedom Walk held in June which raised $10,000 or the bike tour of 1,200km that raised $11,000.

Bouchard said the next big event for Magdalene House is the annual day of awareness for human trafficking on Feb. 22, 2014.

“Right now we are working on a location and staffing. We have had a lot of support from the City and some councillors have been helping us with the zoning for housing and what we would need to do to get into a location.”

For more information on Magdalene House or the golf tournament and upcoming events, visit www.magdalenehouse.ca.

kpalardy@reddeerexpress.com