April: Child Abuse Prevention Month

The “Child Abuse Awareness Walk” will be held Friday, April 14 from 6 P.M. - 9 P.M.
Photo Courtesy of http://hopefellowship.net/rfkc/

The winter season has ended. This means spring has officially started to bring the warmer weather and vibrant colors. While spring may be exciting, there is something else to consider for the upcoming month. Not only does April bring the spring weather, but April is also Child Abuse Prevention Month. Concord University student and Bonner Scholar, Blake Farmer, decided to take a stand for this issue and develop his own initiative to get the campus community behind him.  

    April has been the designated month in America for the national Child Abuse Prevention Month since 1983. Farmer stated that child abuse and neglect is something that is of utmost importance to him and close to his heart. Because of this, it comes as no surprise for him to set up an event to raise awareness of the issue. “I have always wanted to do some type of event on campus to raise awareness for child abuse and neglect. As a part of the Bonner Scholars Program, I’m grateful for the fact that our program is able to be the sponsoring organization for this event,” he states. The event is called “Child Abuse Awareness Walk” and Farmer believes this event will unify the community to take a stand against child abuse.

    The event is to help benefit the Royal Family Kids Camp in Princeton, W.Va. Farmer states that the camp is an international organization with various camps and mentoring programs that assist abused, neglected and at-risk children. Famer discusses serving the children at this camp. “This year, we will be going into our 10 year of servicing children with our summer camp. We have children who go to our camp from the following counties: Mercer, McDowell, Monroe, Greenbrier, Summers and Raleigh,” he states. Not only does he keep involved, but his family does as well. Farmer explained how his mother directs the camp, his grandmother is the social worker and his father manages the recreational activities the camp hosts throughout the week. He also says a lot of other family members and friends involve themselves with the camp.

    According to rfk.org/camps, “The primary purpose of Royal Family Kids Camp is to give foster children ages 6-12 a week of positive memories and royal treatment in a Christian Camp environment.” The program first selects three to five people that are from respected churches. They attend an intense week of training at the Royal Family Kids Director’s Training Camp. After their training is completed, the group fundraises while recruiting and launching their very own Royal Family Kids Camp in a local community. The churches associated with the group become responsible for operation of the local camps that get set up. 

    Farmer emphasized the feelings he felt while staying involved with Child Abuse Prevention for so long. “The past 10 years of serving with our organization has been nothing less than incredible. It has made me realize how blessed I truly am and has opened my eyes to the many issues that our communities faces all across the nation,” Farmer said. He also believes that if the Bonner Scholars can impact just one child’s life to show them hope for a better future, they can overcome any situation they may have experienced in the past. He says once that goal is accomplished, they have fulfilled what they had set out to do. Concord and surrounding communities will have significant impact from this event. Farmer states, “I believe this event will serve as one unified stand against child abuse as one community and show that Concord stands together in support of this cause raising awareness.” 

The “Child Abuse Awareness Walk” will take place on Friday, April 14 from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M. at the Concord track in Callaghan Stadium. People who want to be involved can walk as an individual or as a team with five to 10 people. Preregistration for the event is highly recommended; however, the event will accept registrations there. The registration begins at 5:30 P.M. the day of the scheduled walk and the first 200 people to preregister will be given Child Abuse Awareness bracelets. A $5 fee is required to participate for Concord University faculty, staff and students. All other community members will pay a fee of $10. A prize will be given to the team with the most steps at the end of the event. 

    Farmer says he wishes to see a great turnout as he hopes the community helps raise awareness for child abuse and neglect.