April 21, 2011 - The third annual "Stand Up For Kids" event was the biggest one ever. Organizers estimate that 500-600 people attended the event at Family Video on North Center Street in Bonham. The come and go event lasted from 3:30 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13.
The same day was "Go Blue Day" in Texas. This day is promoted by the Texas Council of Child Welfare Board and the Fannin County Child Welfare Board as part of Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in April.
"Child abuse is a community problem," said Sandy Barber with the Children's Center. "This year's "Stand Up For Kids" event was bigger and better because we involved more of the community."
"Last fall, Family Video Manager Cassandra Drake asked us if we would be interested in partnering with them to do an event," said Barber. "We decided to move this event to Family Video from the courthouse square and add some activities to make it a more family-oriented event. One of the keys to preventing child abuse is to strengthen parent-child relationships, and what better way to do that than by having families spend fun time together."
"It was great to see the whole community and lots of businesses get involved with this," said Drake. "And it was fun for everyone - the kids and the volunteers too!"
When families arrived at the event, they were given a blue sheet of paper which listed all of the activities. As they completed each activity, they got their sheet signed. Once all activities were completed, they were able to turn it in to get a goodie bag filled with items from local businesses and organizations. The bags were decorated by students from Finley Oates Elementary in Bonham. Goodie bags included a coupon for free icee from Kwik Chek, free rental coupon from Family Video, a toy from Sonic Drive-In, "No Excuse For Child Abuse" heat sensitive pencil from the Fannin County Child Welfare Board, educational handouts and "No Excuse For Child Abuse" blue bracelet from the Children's Center.
"We are so grateful to Family Video for graciously hosting the event," said Barber "And to all of the other businesses, schools and other groups who volunteered and made this our best one ever!"
ABC Clown Around Party Rental and the Children's Center sponsored a Spiderman Bouncy House and a forty foot inflatable obstacle course. Bonham High School football and volleyball players volunteered to provide supervision for these activities.
Trenton FCCLA and Leadership Team put on a cake walk at the event. Kwik Chek and the 2010 Fannin County Little Miss ran a pop bottle ring toss game.
Domino's Pizza provided free pizza and Fannin County Electric Co-op supplied free popcorn for the event. Legend Bank employees handed out free bottled water their company provided.
Bonham Police Department brought a police car to let kids take turns sitting in the front seat. Bonham Fire Department brought a fire truck for kids to look at and two firemen handed out plastic fire hats as they talked to the kids and parents.
Sandy Hood with the Children's Center put on a puppet show to teach kids about the safety rules regarding sexual and physical abuse. This educational activity was a big hit with both kids and parents.
Rent-A-Center brought a large screen TV to Family Video and set it up inside with a video game for kids to take turns playing.
The Children's Center also had various child abuse prevention materials to hand out, as well as blue buttons with the slogan "No Excuse for Child Abuse."Blue shirts with the same slogan were also for sale for $10 each. The Children's Center will continue to take orders for the shirts through the end of the month. For more information, go to www.fanninccc.org or call (903) 583-4339.
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