REPORT ABUSE 1-800-252-5400
If you or someone you know is being abused. Don’t Wait. Help is available.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Each year, our community comes together to honor the victims of child abuse and to raise awareness about this tragedy. Child Advocates of Fort Bend holds its annual Light of Hope Ceremony in Sugar Land Town Square Plaza to kick off the month. Organizations throughout the county sponsor activities to engage their members and inform the public. Highlights include the Exchange Clubs whose national project is the prevention of child abuse. They tie blue ribbons on trees along streets and boulevards and set up fields of blue ribbon stakes at the Fort Bend County Courthouse and Highway 90 in Stafford to honor every child who was a victim of child abuse in the past year. They also run the Blue Ribbon Contest in which 30+ elementary schools participate and engage their students to design and decorate their schools in blue.
2023 – Light of Hope Ceremony at Sugar Land Town Square Plaza
The Story of the Blue Ribbon
The blue ribbon is the symbol of child abuse and originates from the story of a little boy who was a victim of child abuse. In spring 1989, Bonnie Finney, a Virginia grandmother received the devastating news that her beloved grandson had died of injuries inflicted by his parents. In an expression of her grief and outrage, she tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her van as a way to remember “the bruised and battered body of her grandson” and to alert her community to the tragedy of child abuse. Her simple idea, to wear or display a blue ribbon to show support for child abuse prevention was picked up by grassroots organizations across the country.
The blue ribbon serves as a constant reminder to fight for protection for our children. Please wear a blue ribbon. Put one on your car. Give one to your friends and tell them what it means. You may save a child’s life!
Questions or for more information on these events or how to help with community awareness, contact Casey at CDavis@cafb.org.
