Stop the Hurt Gala to Benefit Abused Children
By Cathy Patton
In 2007 alone, Child Protective Services received 543 referrals. From those referrals 10 criminal charges were filed and eight Grand Jury Indictments were issued, according to Stop the Hurt Administrator Carmella Fredrick.
That’s why there’s such pressing a need for Stop the Hurt.
Stop the Hurt is a local child advocacy program that serves abused and sexually abused children and their families. The new Stop the Hurt center is currently located at Maitland, but remains unfurnished and unstaffed.
That’s why the McDowell Chamber of Commerce, along with other local volunteers, is hosting a fundraising dinner at the Welch Armory Saturday, May 10, 7 p.m. After expenses, all profit from the gala will go to Stop the Hurt.
There is no dress code for the gala
Governor Joe Manchin will be the speaker at the Stop the Hurt event, and there will be plenty of food, fun and toe-tapping music for all. All tickets to the gala must be purchased in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door, says Chamber President Reba Honaker.
“Stop the Hurt is such a worthwhile project,” Honaker said. “That’s why the Chamber wanted to be part of it and make it a reality.”
Tickets may be purchased from Fredrick or Honaker, at Welch City Hall, McDowell EDA, McBride Electric, McBride Accounting and from Emily Yeager and Cathy Patton.
Fredrick notes that the idea for the Stop the Hurt center originated with McDowell County Assistant Prosecutor Eddie Kornish, who is currently serving in the military in Afghanistan.
“Eddie found out about the (advocacy) centers and then visited Virginia and Alabama to see how they work there so that we could incorporate what they were doing and use it here,” Fredrick said.
In 2001, Stop the Hurt became a non-profit and began to look for a suitable site to locate a child advocacy center. Fredrick wrote a $157,000 USDA grant, and the legislature through the old Budget Digest chipped in another $63,000.
Those funds have been used to create the Stop the Hurt Center at Maitland. The problem is, Stop the Hurt has no monies to furnish the center or to hire a center coordinator.
Fredrick estimates that it will cost about $45,000 to get the center open and running and to pay the coordinator’s salary for one year.
In addition to overseeing center activities, the coordinator, she said, will have to write grants and host fundraisers to pay for the center’s operating costs and to pay for his/her salary.
The coordinator will be the center’s only employee. The interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, CPS workers, counselors, law enforcement officers and others who assist the children will be paid from their respective employers, not by the center.
The center will provide treatment to children ages 2 through 17, but will not be a residential facility, Fredrick said.
“Everything we do is all about helping the children,” she said. “Having a one-stop center where children can be interviewed and treated stops them from being re-traumatized. The public has to get behind it for it to work.”
A good way for the public to show their support for the child advocacy center is to attend the Stop the Hurt gala, May 10th at the Welch armory.
“It’s going to take community support to get the center going and to keep it going,” Fredrick said. “We encourage everyone who can to attend the May 10th event.”
CHAMBER PREPARES FOR GALA - McDowell Chamber of Commerce members Harold McBride, Mary Lou Odum, Charles Honaker and Harry Watts are pictured recently discussing the May 10th Stop the Hurt Gala with Stop the Hurt Coordinator Carmella Fredrick and Chamber President Reba Honaker. Governor Joe Manchin will be the keynote speaker at the fun-filled event. ALL TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE. (Photo by Cathy Patton)
ELKHORN CREEK CLEAN UP IS SATURDAY - The annual clean up of Elkhorn Creek is slated for this Saturday, April 26, Solid Waste Authority Board member Randall Patton advises. Patton is soliciting more participation for the annual event.
Patton notes that volunteers should meet at the Elkhorn Post Office at 9 a.m.
Patton opined that it isn’t fair for the members of the Kanawha County Chapter of Trout Unlimited to come to McDowell County and work alone.
“I understand that they had very little local assistance in the past,” he said. “We hope to change that this year.”
Patton said that he, Litter Control Officer Wendell Hatfield, SWA Board President Harold McBride, inmates from the Stevens Correctional Facility and others would be assisting in Saturday’s cleanup.
“We can always use more help,” he said. “Elkhorn Creek is noted to be one of the best rainbow trout streams in the state. Maybe some of the local fishermen will come and lend a hand.”
The above picture depicts some of the Kanawha County volunteers assisting in last year’s clean up of Elkhorn Creek.
