Local News - April 2003

Lincoln rallies against child abuse

By JEREMY ASHTON, LTN Staff Writer

Kathy Vinzant looked out at the people seated in the Citizens Center on Thursday night and got a little misty-eyed.

Vinzant, coordinator for the Lincoln County Coalition Against Child Abuse, saw representatives from a number of different organizations at the coalition’s gala event to start Child Abuse Prevention Month.

She said she couldn’t help but be emotional. Of all the times she has asked for a donation for the coalition, she could never remember being refused.

“If there is a county that will be successful with this problem, I believe it’s this one,” Vinzant said.

Thursday’s event was in part a celebration of what the coalition, founded in 1991, has done to draw attention to child abuse in Lincoln County.

The coalition recognized several businesses and individuals for their contributions. Members of the West Lincoln High School choir and Vinzant’s daughter, Karli, sang for the assembly. And the coalition’s recently named mascot, Freedom, a blue ape, made an appearance.

But the night’s activities also served as a reminder of how much more has to be done.

In 2002, 900 cases of child abuse or neglect were reported to the Department of Social Services. Coalition President Doris Little said one of the 24 children who died in the state from child abuse last year lived in Lincoln County — “nothing to brag about,” she said.

District Court Judge K. Dean Black, the keynote speaker for the evening, said most of the cases he handles in court involve the underlying problems of drug abuse and domestic violence.

Those issues can’t be taken care of by the courts alone, he said. All of the groups represented Thursday — the county, law enforcement, DSS, churches and others — have to be active and spread awareness of the issues.

“Only with your talents and love for children can we solve this problem,” Black said.

Tony Carpenter, a supervisor at DSS who often deals with child abuse cases, echoed Black’s sentiments.

“It’s important that everyone knows child abuse is a community problem … ,” Carpenter said. “The issues are not minimized; they’re growing and growing.”

For this month’s recognition of Child Abuse Prevention, the coalition is distributing blue ribbons that are meant to be worn every day until “tattered and frayed.”

In addition, the coalition is raffling off a playhouse, which is being built by students from the Lincoln County School of Technology in front of G.E. Massey Elementary School. Little said the coalition has found a benefactor who will match the money raised from that event.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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