Exchange Club members unite for child-abuse prevention

Members of the Exchange Club of Waynesboro will join thousands of fellow Exchangites across the country for the single biggest child abuse prevention service event in Exchange’s 100-year history during April. They will be participating in the national project, the Prevention of Child Abuse, through a series of programs in Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County.

These programs include a display at the Central United Methodist Church, Staunton during the month of April and a display and fundraiser at the Marriott Residence Inn, Waynesboro throughout April; a presentation for the MOMS club at Central United Methodist Church on April 18th; bell ringing for Quarters for Kids at WAL-MART while distributing blue ribbons for Child Abuse Prevention; presentation at the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce Business at Breakfast on April 20th; support of students of Stuart Draft High School with their project Child Abuse Prevention for the month of April and prize distribution for the best essay on April 26th ;a program presentation and speaker on Child Abuse Prevention at the Central United Methodist Church with different churches in the area; and on April 30th conclude with CELEBRATE KIDS program with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The Club has arranged public service announcements by Clear Channel radio and cable TV at various times during the month of April. The mayor of Waynesboro, Frank Lucente, signed a proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse Prevention in Waynesboro and enjoined all citizens of Waynesboro to recognize child abuse and be involved in its prevention.

According to official state statistics, domestic violence is shockingly prevalent in Virginia: Every 84 minutes a child is abused or neglected; every five hours a child witnesses an act of domestic violence and a family seeks shelter from a domestic violence program but is denied for lack of space, and every six days a child aged 18 or younger is murdered.

One of the resources being made available by the Exchange Club is brochures about child abuse prevention including the dangers of shaking a crying baby, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc, and several parenting tips to prevent child abuse. Exchange believes parents have the power to make positive parenting choices in the lives of their children and is offering some easy to use tips to help all parents. To date, over 1 million copies of these have been distributed across the country.

The National Exchange Club is working to make our communities better places of live through one nation project, The Prevention of Child Abuse, and other community service projects. To date, the National Exchange Club’s efforts have helped more than 656,000 families and 1.6 million children break the cycle of child abuse through its parent aide programs and public education projects.