CAC Progress Notes
Newsletter for the Children's Advocacy Center of SWFL
May-June 2014
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So Many Reasons To Be Thankful!
 The 3rd Annual Wildcat Cares 4 Kids fundraiser at Wildcat Run Golf & Country Club was a resounding success. Recently, members of the event committee presented CAC's Jill Turner with a check for $35,000. "Wildcat Run's generosity impacts our agency greatly. People have jobs and kids are being seen without waiting because of their continued efforts on our behalf," remarked Jill. "Once again, our residents have shown what a philanthropic spirit they have. In just three years, Wildcat Cares 4 Kids has become a signature event in our community to support abused and at-risk children," said Judy Mittino, event chair.
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 Contributing to the community is a way of life for Rich Durnwald, CAC's board president and a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual in Ft. Myers. Rich was recently recognized by Northwestern Mutual's Foundation for his work with CAC.
As a recipient of the company's 20th annual Community Service Award, Rich was chosen due to his outstanding volunteerism, earning him $15,000 for CAC. "CAC has been treating children and their families for 32 years without much community recognition," said Rich. "Their important work doesn't get publicized due to its sensitive nature; but for me, it was a cause I could not ignore."
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The Eta Tau chapter of Kappa Delta at FGCU hosted its 4th annual Wing Fling fundraiser for CAC  , a wing eating competition and cookout providing unlimited wings to attendees. This year they brought awareness to the plight of child abuse to over 500 people and served approximately 6,000 tasty wings. CAC happily accepted a check for $8505 from this event. Thank you Kappa Delta!
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Three Oaks Middle School, in cooperation with FGCU's CROPS and Scholars program, recently held its first "needs drive" to benefit CAC's clients in need. Toiletry items, paper goods and cleaning supplies were the focus, and the resul ts were great! Thank you to students Jessica Ortiz and Adriana Amaris (pictured here with all the loot!), and to Three Oaks CROPS and Scholars Coordinator Suzanne Paulen for spearheading the effort. We look forward to working with Three Oaks again on future endeavors!
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Got Shoes? We Do!
A whopping 1,157 pairs! Thanks to the efforts of Girl Scout Troop 242, in just two weeks they collected that many shoes from their friends and families at St Francis School, amazing!
All those bags you see are filled with shoes. Our conference room runneth over! Who needs DSW when Troop 242 is on the job? So many families will benefit from this shoe drive. Way to go Troop 242!
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Meet Daimary Perez, CPT Family Advocate
Our family advocates work with the families of children who are being treated at CAC. They determine what issues and challenges the family is facing within their living environment.
Daimary Perez was a student at FGCU when she interned in our Prevention department in 2012. When she graduated in May 2013 with a BS in Social Work, she began work here full time within our Child Protection Team.
Family advocates have a unique task in that a client interview can often start out one way, only to veer another way as the advocate unearths other issues. "They come in for one problem, but with some investigating many more problems come to light and w e attempt to resolve them," says Daimary.
A good example of this is "Mary," who came here when her teenage granddaughter was brought to CAC as a victim of sexual abuse. Mary has raised her granddaughter since she was a baby; the mother is out of the picture. Mary faces challenges due to losing one arm. She is unable to work; her only income is disability. The one thing Mary mentioned to the case coordinator at the initial assessment was that she had no means of transportation to get her granddaughter to CAC for her appointments; she needed bus passes.
But digging deeper for more information is what Daimary and all our family advocates do. Daimary found that Mary hadn't been able to pay her FPL bill for three months, her cell phone was being cut off, and she feared for her safety at her current home.
Mary was not familiar with the resources at hand to help her, but our advocates are. Daimary knew she was eligible for the Emergency Utility pay program through Senior Choices, which paid her bill in full within two days. She arranged for Mary to receive a Safe Link phone, and also got in touch with a United Way house near Mary's home, for help with cash assist forms, which helps caregivers of children who are not biologically related. Mary was not aware of any of these options. She was just hoping for some bus passes.
The end result-with the extra income coming in each month, Mary and her granddaughter were able to relocate to an apartment in a safer neighborhood. And this is what CAC is all about, making a child's world safer.
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Random Acts of Kindness
Thank you to Andy & Dottie Nicholas, who continue to amaze us with their generosity as they regularly make trips to our office to deliver bag upon bag of new clothes for children and adults.
Thank you to the Bobby Noonen Academy PTA, who kindly thought of us when it came time to donate over 200 new Scholastic books.
Thank you to Lydia Quilters, Whiskey Creek Ladies Club, Gulf Harbour Ladies Club and Marilyn's Bible Study Group for all their wonderful donations.
Thank you to our USPS letter carrier, Cathy Priegnitz, who recently went above and beyond to help us regarding our return service mail. So nice!
Thank you to Diane Sievers for a boatload of Beanie Babies!
Thank you to John Wood, retired pilot and now videographer extraordinaire, who has devoted much time and effort to editing a wonderful DVD for the agency. Look for it soon on our website!
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Wish List
CAC appreciates the giving spirit of our community. We are currently in need of the following:
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New board games, appropriate for ages 5-11, for our Pine Manor kids. New please!
◊ A crib and diapers, S/M.
◊ Household items: sheet sets, blankets, small kitchen appliances, dishes, glasses, pots/pans. Gently used please.
◊ A new or gently used 32-36" flat screen TV for our Pine Manor after school program.
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Our Mission
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To report suspected child abuse, call
1-800-96-ABUSE (2873)
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Board of Directors
President
Charles Idelson-
Vice President
Peter Seif-
Secretary
Anne Hansen-
Treasurer
Paul Martin-
Past President
Kellie Burns
Dr. Jeff Graddy
Larry Hart
Rosemary Meza
Liz Paul
Bruce Schultz
Cynthia Shafer
Dr. Martha Valiant
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CAC Funded in Part By:
Bobby Nichols Fiddlesticks Charity Foundation
The Children's Hospital/Lee Memorial Health System
Children's Network of
Southwest Florida
Florida Dept. of Health
Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers
Lee County Department of Human Services
National Children's Alliance
Office of the Attorney General
Southwest Florida Community Foundation
Wildcat Run Country Club
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Children's Advocacy Center of SWFL 3830 Evans Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33901 239-939-2808 www.cac-swfl.org |
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Copyright � 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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