Agencies team up for World Day
By J.J. Kindred | (jj.kindred@thedailytimes.com)
The New Hope-Blount County Children’s Advocacy Center and Maryville College are collaborating for activities to celebrate World Day for the prevention of child abuse.
Representatives held a brief press conference Tuesday morning at New Hope to discuss the community events scheduled for November. World Day is Nov. 19.
The following activities were announced:
• Maryville College students from the International Child Welfare class will present the book, “One,” written by Kathryn Otoshi, to children in 13 Blount County after-school programs. Participating children will decorate luminaries and banners to be displayed at New Hope’s “Black Tie Blue Jeans” fundraiser on Nov. 3 and again on World Day.
• More Maryville College students are coordinating a pen-pal exchange/fundraiser between children at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Alcoa and South Sudanese students of Africa ELI (Education and Leadership Initiative).
• Other students are working to generate community participation in the Stewards of Children child abuse prevention seminar Nov. 12, and are responsible for promoting, recruiting and moderating the question and answer sessions.
• On World Day, a reverse raffle fundraiser will be conducted at New Hope. The drawing will begin at 11 a.m. with prizes throughout the event. The final ticket remaining will win $2,000 with taxes paid by New Hope. Raffle tickets are $20 each and will remain on sale until 10 a.m. that morning or while supplies last.
• Also on World Day, Tricia Bruce will be a keynote speaker for the World Day culminating session, to be held at Maryville College’s Lawson Auditorium and Fayerweather Hall. A parent served by New Hope will also speak about how participating in the Stewards of Children program helped her know what to do and how to protect children. Students will also present summaries of their World Day activities.
“We typically celebrate World Day where we internationally recognize opportunities to try to prevent child abuse,” said Trudy Hughes, executive director of the New Hope-Blount County Children’s Advocacy Center.
“The great thing about World Day is that it has been expanded to the entire first 19 days into November. We are one of 66 organizations around the world who have come on board — actually who have been on board for five or six years — to really celebrate this day, to look at opportunities as close as home to Maryville and as far away as around the planet, to help people be aware of children in trauma and abuse situations, and what we can do to help to prevent that.”
$5,000 donation
Stephanie Trost, a representative of the SunTrust Bank Foundation, was also on hand to present a check for $5,000 to New Hope for the Stewards of Children program.
“As many of you know, the board of directors at New Hope helped launch the Stewards of Children program two years ago, and we have been blessed to have had many community partners such as the SunTrust Bank Foundation,” Hughes said.
“This big check represents the second year of funding to support the Stewards of Children program, which is an adult education program with the goal of reaching a tipping point, which is 5 percent of the population. Once they reach the tipping point, they can reach out to other 95 percent.”
Ariane Schratter, associate professor of psychology at Maryville College, has students in her International Child Welfare class working with the community events in recognition of World Day.
“With Trudy’s help, we’re seeing a new generation of students,” Schratter said. “This is an opportunity in class for students to see what it is like to build a grass-roots effort. It will change the way to think about their own responsibility to stopping child abuse in the community.”
