Prevent-a-thon Mobilizes the Tri-County to Address Child Sexual Abuse!
Prevent-a-thon: What it Is
Prevent-a-thon is a month-long media event that drives people to take action to protect the children in their lives. It mobilizes the community to address the issue of child sexual abuse.
Raising Awareness of the Issue
Prevent-a-thon raises awareness of the problem by blanketing the area
with news stories, supporting events, public service announcements and
a public awareness campaign. In 2009, Darkness to Lights documentary ran
multiple times on three local networks and WCIV Channel 4 televised a
Larry King style interview in prime time. The kick-off press conference,
attended by all area mayors, was carried on all three major networks and
covered by the Post Courier. All radio stations and two networks broadcast
Darkness to Light PSAs. CARTA buses sported (and still sport!)
Darkness to Light ads, and Adams Outdoor donated prominent space for a
unique billboard that is still in place. The plans for the
2010 Prevent-a-thon are even bigger and better!
Educating the Community
Each day in August, Darkness to Lights nationally-acclaimed Stewards of Children child sexual abuse
prevention training sessions are held without charge in a wide array of locations and venues. In addition, there are free training sessions for businesses, youth-serving organizations, schools and faith centers. Thousands of people take Darkness to Light’s training during Prevent-a-thon, and many organizations pledge to host a training session in the coming months.
There is no charge for these training sessions
because Darkness to Light focuses most of its year-round local
fundraising efforts on raising money for these scholarships.
Success
Prevent-a-thon drives Darkness to Light’s local
training initiative. It is expected that 23,000
tri-county adults will be been trained by the end
of the calendar year. This includes 100% of
Charleston, Berkeley and
Dorchester County
teachers!
Corporate Sponsorship Gets Attention!
Sponsoring Prevent-a-thon is a great way to show
large numbers of local residents that your
company is responsible, caring and involved in the
community. Sponsors of Prevent-a-thon receive
recognition at each training session, on the
Prevent-a-thon and Darkness to Light websites, in
all Prevent-a-thon promotional pieces, in the
Darkness to Light newsletter (over 4,000 mailed locally) and in the media.
For More Information
For more information about sponsoring Darkness
to Light’s Prevent-a-thon please contact Liz
Boeschen at 843-965-5444, ext. 18 or
eboeschen@D2L.org.
