For Immediate Release: 10/19/07

Naples, FL – The Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s Immokalee Outreach Office is hosting an afternoon of free activities for children, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by the Children’s March on Main, Monday, October 29, 2007, as part of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities taking place this October.

Designed to create awareness about intimate partner abuse and the effects of domestic violence on children, the Children’s March on Main begins with afternoon activities, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., including:

• Games
• Prizes
• Refreshments
• Health Fair featuring sister organizations, such as: Healthy Families, Children’s Medical Services, RCMA, Marion E. Fether Medical Center, Alzheimer’s Association, Head Start, Children’s Advocacy Center, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Planned Parenthood of Collier County, Farmworker Jobs and Education Program, PACE Center for Girls and more!
• Raffle

Following these activities, children and their parents will join Shelter staff for a police-escorted Children’s March on Main, walking down Main Street in Immokalee as a reminder of the Shelter’s vision to create a community free from domestic violence so that every home is a safe haven for the family it shelters. Raffle prizes will be announced at the conclusion of the March.

The Shelter will also host the following as part of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities held this October:

• Belize Survivor: Darker Side of Paradise Book Signing with author Nancy Koerner at Options Thrift Shoppe on Saturday, October 20, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Copies of the book will be available for $25.00 each, with $5.00 from each sale benefiting the Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s life-saving programs and services.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month is an outgrowth from the first Day of Unity hosted by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in October of 1981 and was first observed in October of 1987. In 1989, the US Congress passed the first National Domestic Violence Awareness Month Commemorative Legislation and continues to pass the legislation each year in an effort to bring life-saving attention to the many and varied issues that comprise domestic violence/intimate partner abuse.

To learn more about the Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s National Domestic Violence Month campaign, including becoming a drop off location for the cell phone drive, please call 239-775-3862.

For details on the Children’s March on Main in Immokalee, please call the Immokalee Outreach Office at 239-657-5700.

For more information about the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, programs and services, please call 239-775-3862, or visit the Shelter’s website at www.naplesshelter.org.

###

The Shelter for Abused Women & Children helps adult and child victims and survivors of domestic violence through safety, intervention and support; educates the public about domestic violence; and advocates for social change against domestic violence. For more information, please contact us at 239-775-3862, or visit us online at: www.naplesshelter.org

Media Contact: Mary Ann T. Green, mgreen@naplesshelter.org, 239-775-3862, ext. 211