April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. When analyzing the statistics, one in every three girls and one in every five boys have been sexually abused before the age of 18. One in every nine children is physically abused and countless others suffer
from the psychological repercussions of abuse. As a society, it is completely unacceptable to allow for these actions to scar young children, especially at this magnitude. To combat this pressing issue, not only does awareness needed to be raised significantly,
but support as well. Having close experience with abuse victims, I have seen that often they only need someone to talk to or to listen to them; someone to let them know they are not alone and it is ok to talk about it.
So, A.Y.E. is working towards spearheading a campaign to elevate awareness on the subject, show support for victims and raise money to donate towards the Joyful Heart Foundation. The campaign will be called “1 in Too”, which is meant to illustrate that regardless
of the true ratio of victims of child abuse, ‘too’ many children are abused in some form or another. Anyone who donates and takes on wearing one of our “1 in Too” bands will be doing more than merely donating, they will be showing the world that they care
and they are there for victims in whatever way possible. This wristband will be a badge that denotes acknowledgement of this issue and a desire to address it through both awareness and support.
The wristband will have the slogan "1 in Too" inscribed on the top and will have our Bands 4 Abuse logo (pictured below) on the opposite side.
If you do not have a Start Some Good account, you can donate here:
http://www.afyeo.org/donate.html
$500 Tipping Point Goal
Initially, the money will be put towards the purchasing and distribution of wristbands. The cost for our first order of wristbands (500 + 100 free) will be $399.98; and the cost for shipping out the wristbands to the locations that they will initially be
distributed at (several college campuses around the country) will be approximately $68.10. Costs may marginally increase due to the possible addition of initial locations.
If we raise sufficient money, we hope to expand this campaign in order to give it more reach and strength. Funds in excess of $500 will go partially to the purchasing of new wristbands and partially to new costs of expansion. One such cost is the distribution
of bands resulting from online transactions (donations), in which each band would cost approximately $0.55 to distribute to donors. Another cost is the the enhancement of our website, so that we are able to process donations into one of six regions (rather
than having all transactions processed by few individuals in one location), which makes distribution of wristbands possible if the campaign dramatically expands
We hope that this campaign will take off and all donations and orders will be processed and wristbands will be distributed on a nationwide basis through our website. This being said, we plan to start our initial distribution of these bands will be through
college campuses across the country. Right now we will be launching on Penn State University, Miami University, The College of William & Mary, Loyola University (Chicago) and are working towards several campuses across the West Coast. Additionally, we will
be initially distributing bands in Northeast PA and Washington, D.C.
