For Immediate Release:
April 13, 2004		   Print this Article
     

FIRST LADY ANNOUNCES NEW STATEWIDE WALK INITIATIVE

CONTE TO RAISE AWARENESS, FUNDS FOR CHILD ADVOCACY CENTERS

Nashville - Tennessee’s First Lady today announced the Office of the First Lady is taking on a new statewide initiative to raise awareness and funding for the state’s 25 child advocacy centers. Directors of the state’s child advocacy centers, local elected officials and law enforcement representatives joined Conte as she unveiled “Andrea Walks for Tennessee’s Children,” an initiative to raise awareness of child abuse in Tennessee and the work child advocacy centers do to help children who have been victimized.

A longtime advocate for victims’ rights issues, Conte made promoting and providing support for the state’s child advocacy centers a priority issue when she became First Lady of Tennessee in 2003. During a press conference today at the Memphis Child Advocacy Center, Conte explained she wanted to find a way to promote the work the state’s child advocacy centers are doing to help child victims of sexual or severe physical abuse and established “Andrea’s Walk For Tennessee’s Children.”

This initiative will help draw local and statewide attention to the role these nonprofit organizations play in their communities, she said, as well as the need for additional funding from the communities they support.

“I’m not doing this alone,” Conte said. “This walk is a collaborative effort among 27 nonprofit organizations, including 25 child advocacy centers, the Tennessee Chapter of Child Advocacy Centers and You Have the Power, Inc. These organizations are working diligently every day on behalf of children who become victims of abuse, and we’ll be working together to raise awareness and greatly needed funds to address the problem of child abuse in Tennessee.”

Conte announced she will begin walking in Memphis on September 8, and will cover more than 600 miles across the state before ending the event in Bristol. Conte and registered participants will walk an average of 10 to 20 miles per day and will continue until mid-November. The walk will resume mid-February 2005 and continue across the state for a tentative completion date of May 1.

“It is very exciting that the First Lady of Tennessee is going to devote her time and energy to Tennessee communities on a very personal level to make abused children a priority,” said Verna Wyatt, executive director of You Have the Power…Know How to Use It, Inc. “She is going to ‘invest’ herself in each community, walking for hours, visiting with citizens, energizing them, encouraging them, and working with them shoulder-to-shoulder to help gain support for the child advocacy center in their city.”

The director of the Tennessee Chapter of Child Advocacy Centers, Bonnie Beneke, said interested participants will be asked to give a $35 donation to register for the Walk, and will be asked to enlist sponsors to pledge donations for each mile the participant walks.

“Those who wish to participate, but do not want to walk, may volunteer to staff water and aid stations, arrange for receptions and offer other forms of support for this important initiative,” Beneke said. “We hope individuals throughout the state will show their support for this effort, even if they’re not able to walk with us.”

To that end, the collaborative effort of “Andrea Walks For Tennessee’s Children” will be asking local and statewide sponsors to support the cause, and announced today three statewide sponsors who recently pledged support for the initiative.

“I’m so pleased to be able to share today that Corrections Corporation of America, Verizon Wireless and Genesco, Inc., have signed on as the Walk’s first statewide sponsors,” Conte said. “These organizations have shown that they care about Tennessee’s children and they care about our communities. I can’t thank them enough for joining us in our efforts to raise awareness about child advocacy throughout the state.”

Beneke said money raised from the walk will be used to fund public programs, to purchase needed educational materials, to provide counseling for children who have been victimized and for other costs related to providing services to child abuse victims.

Conte, also an avid marathon walker, asked Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Kenneth Robinson, M.D., to join her for today’s press conference to help promote the health aspects of joining “Andrea Walks for Tennessee’s Children.”

“Walking can help you get fit, lose weight, reduce stress and lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes,” Robinson said. “Walking for such an admirable cause also has the added incentive of knowing that you’re doing something that will benefit children as well as yourself, and provides additional motivation to get started on a walking program.”

“Andrea Walks For Tennessee’s Children” is a collaborative effort of the Office of the First Lady, Tennessee Chapter of Child Advocacy Centers, and You Have the Power…Know How to Use It, Inc. to raise awareness and funding about child abuse and the importance of child advocacy centers. For more information, visit www.AndreaWalks.com.

By bringing together professionals from law enforcement, criminal justice, child protective services, victims’ advocacy agencies and the medical and mental health communities, child advocacy centers provide comprehensive services for child victims and their families. There are currently 25 Child Advocacy Centers across the state of Tennessee. For more information on Conte’s work with Child Advocacy Centers, visit her Web site at www.tennessee.gov/firstlady.