28 Hours of Hope: D Dennison Get’s It!

28 Hours of Hope, a tradition with a cause. The Good Morning Guys give their all for this event. The months, days and hours dedicated to the event all go unseen. Todd and Brian handle the meat of the event and a few chosen add the supporting materials to create what has grown to be a huge success every year.

From My 17 year old daughter, Ashley:

I come from a hard past and can relate with many people. My life has not been a walk in the park but i make the best of it..... This year I really found myself and found what was important to me and what my passion in life was.... I spent far too much time and energy the first two years of high school worried about what group i fit in with, what brand of clothes I had, how my hair would fall, but now all that is silly to me... My biggest goal in life is to support my peers and be that person that people can talk to..... this year I found out that I wanna work with special needs children as a career path, they bring me such joy and warmth in my life, I have to thank Ms. Kilness, and Amy. I want other girls my age and any age to appreciate themselves and remember that we only have one life to live, make it the best, accomplish your dreams, and don't look down.

Ashley worked through her junior year helping the special needs kids, her peers and the Child Advocacy Center.

The Child Advocacy Center was a soft spot in Ashley's heart from the very first moment she learned about what they do at the house. She soon took upon herself to start a club at Rocky Mountain High School called 'Voices Carry'. Voices Carry was designed to bring awareness to the works done at CAC, but also to bring the horrible acts committed against children to the forefront. She would pass out flyers, sell baked items at the Rock and engage others to get involved. Ashley spent a lot of time at the CAC house cleaning toys, doing yard work and helping out as needed.

I wish that I could tell you that Ashley's interest, along with our family's interest was out of pure human kindness and our love for humanity, but I would be lying. My life has been littered with the horrible that these great organizations fight against everyday. My children, unfortunately, have been a party to some of the pain as they watched the tail end of our agony. My pain started when I was 6 and waved in and out of my life until I was well into my 30's. My living children still feel echos of what they have seen and been a party to, I know now that I can't change that, but hopefully I can help you change tomorrow for all of the children.

THE MISSION:

CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER:

The Larimer County Child Advocacy Center’s mission is to reduce trauma to children and their families through a comprehensive response to child abuse.Our vision is to eliminate child abuse through prevention and education. Where we cannot, all victims will receive comprehensive and compassionate services from an effective team of professionals.

*********************************************

THE NAMAQUA CENTER:

For more than 35 years, Namaqua Center has provided care, treatment and healing to our most vulnerable children. These children might have lived through unspeakable trauma, may have severe behavior challenges, or might even have a diagnosable emotional disturbance.  Each child is unique, and so are their needs. At Namaqua, our family-centered, community based programs offer families the individualized support they need to raise healthy, successful children.

******************************************

                      A KID'S PLACE:

The mission of A Kid's Place is to provide advocacy and support for abused or neglected children by advancing coordinated investigations, prosecution and victim services

I wish that I had known about these types of places both when I was young and as I got older, repeating same patterns and feeling trapped, unimportant and lost. My Ashley got it, my family get's it and I get it! We have to help these organizations, we have to spread the word and most importantly we have to end the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of our children. Every wound created now, without proper care and rebuilding, can turn into a viscous circle that seemingly will never end. And with the closed mouth, don't tell and threats that run wild in this area, it's more likely we will continue to see these patterns continue, so DONATE and protect our tomorrows by helping to create healthy childhoods, thus creating healthy futures for everyone.

My challenge to you, donate one dollar for my angel Ashley for all her good deeds for CAC and while your at it another dollar for my angel Colton-he cared too and helped her with her projects.

-BY THE WAY as a side note, I got a card from a group of RMHS students last week, they were letting me know that they had raised over 500 dollars in the name of Ashley and Colton for their causes-the CAC and the football boosters.