DREAMCATCHERS FOR ABUSED CHILDREN: 1st Annual Easter Basket Drive

EASTER BASKET DONATIONS NEEDED
It is our goal to serve neglected and abused children by providing them with the joy of having a special Easter Basket made just for them. We are aiming to provide these baskets to children from the birth to 17-years old. We will be collecting items for Dreamcatchers for Abused Children to make Easter Baskets for children in need.

…You can help in several ways:
* Donating items to go into the baskets
* Making a monetary donation to DFAC designated for Easter Baskets

Items Needed:
* Easter baskets or plastic buckets
* Easter grass
* Plastic eggs
* Wrapped candy or Fruit Snacks
* Age appropriate item/trinket/toy
* Small stuffed animals or books
* Cellophane
Ideas for Age Appropriate Items:
Crayons, markers, colored pencils and coloring books, small cars, arts and crafts kits, sidewalk chalk, jewelry, gift cards, makeup, purses, manicure sets, jewelry, body sprays, combs & bushes, toothbrushes, bubble bath, small walkmans or CD players, watches, jump ropes, bubbles, bottles and blankets, dress up items, small games or flash cards, decks of cards, silly putty, playdough, sports balls, Small Cars and Trucks ~ Matchbox/Hot Wheels size, fragrances/cosmetics/hair supplies for the teens, etc.

This is a great project for kids of all ages to participate in–gather a group of friends, co-workers, church members or even scouts together to make baskets as a fun and meaningful way to help others.

Your support is greatly appreciated!
The 2011 deadline is Monday, April 18!!

Donations can be made via paypal (using our email: dreamcatchersforabusedchildren@gmail.com). Please make a notation that the donation is for our Easter Basket Drive.

You can also send monetary donations/donated items directly to Dreamcatchers for Abused Children’s via USPS/Fed EX/UPS at:
DFAC
P.O. Box 142
Peck, MI 48466

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED!!

Here is the current list of our sponsers for the Easter Drive:

INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS:
** Krissy Knudsen Serfess
** Sierra Sullivan
** Rebecca Westgate
** LaQuisha Hall: Queendom Tea

BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION DONATIONS:
** Kearns Agency–Port Huron, MI
** SC4’s Global Awareness Club–Port Huron, MI
** Joe’s Party Store–Port Huron, MI
** Erie Square Gazette–Port Huron, MI
** PopChips
** Setting Trends–Port Huron, MI
** Exchange Club Of Port Huron, MI

All of these organizations have not only made donations, but are also working to spread awareness in their area. They have made our information available to their customers, and have shown GREAT support to our organization!

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UPDATE: (4/20/2011) Today was a huge success for Dreamcatchers 1st Annual Easter Basket Drive. Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors & donors—Because of you we ended up with 62 Easter Baskets for abused & homeless children. They will be delivered on Friday by our Event Coordinator, Sierra Sullivan, to the three shelters in St. Clair County, MI. You can view our photos of this event here: https://www.facebook.com/abusedchildren#!/media/set/fbx/?set=a.217396761604996.61304.100000040210270

I would also like to give a HUGE thanks to LaQuisha Hall and Queendom Tea for purchasing, assembling & donating 10 Easter Baskets for the children!!! You can view their photos here: http://laquishahall.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-basket-community-service-in.html#comment-form

THANK YOU!!!!!

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES/PHOTOS OF EVENT:

TIMES HERLAD: http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20110421/NEWS01/104210310/Group-delivers-goods

TIMES HERALD: http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BP&Dato=20110420&Kategori=PHOTOGALLERIES&Lopenr=104200801&Ref=PH&odyssey=mod%7Cgalleriespic

Police: Convicted Molester, Woman Tried To Buy Infant

INDIANAPOLIS — A convicted child molester was one of several people arrested last week in a plan to sell a baby, police said Tuesday.Michael Overby, 57, and Debbie Overby, 50, tried to buy a child who Rose Faucett, 36, delivered on April 2, according to a probable cause affidavit.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/27517440/detail.html

VIDEO: TSA Pat-Down of 6-year-old Girl Ignites Web

NEW ORLEANS, La. — An officer who conducted a pat-down of a 6-year-old girl in the New Orleans airport last week “followed proper current screening procedures,” the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday. However, the agency said it is exploring ways to “focus its resources and move beyond a one-size-fits-all system while maintaining a high level of security.”

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-tsa-pats-down-girl,0,5536336.story

LITHONIA, Ga.  — Watch Video Police said a woman, two children were found dead in a south DeKalb County home and a 21-year-old man was arrested.Investigators said Shelia Irons, 40, and two children Chasity McPherson, 8, Zion McPherson, 11, were found Sunday night at the home on Rockland Road in Lithonia.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/27420692/detail.html?taf=lnta

DETROIT — During testimony Tuesday at the trial of a Michigan father accused of drowning his two children in a bathtub, a medical examiner testified that the children appeared to have died before being put in scalding water.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27518645/detail.html?taf=det

NEWBURGH, N.Y. – A woman who had just been involved in a domestic dispute loaded her four children into a minivan Tuesday night before letting one out and driving the rest of them into the Hudson River, firefighters said. The woman and three young children were killed. The 10-year-old boy who had been let out of the minivan ran to a nearby fire station and alerted firefighters, Chief Michael Vatter said. The boy said his mother had driven off a boat ramp and into the murky water of the river, which runs between New York and New Jersey.

READ MORE HERE:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110413/ap_on_re_us/us_family_s_minivan_river_deaths_3

“As a kid I was like a miniature adult. I cooked and cleaned and made sure my little brothers got off to school. My Mom was always depressed and stayed in bed — she was in the hospital a lot. I guess I never really was a kid.Now, I work hard to get As, take on lots of responsibility, put on this competent front. Inside I still feel really empty.”

“My dad’s an alcoholic. I was always afraid to invite other kids over because I didn’t want them to see what my family was like. I never really got close to people, now I don’t seem to know how to let others get close. I really don’t know how to have a good relationship. Most of the time I feel pretty alone.”

“My parents have always had these big ambitions for me. They tell me what my career should be, who my friends should be, what kind of car I should drive, and who I should date. it’s like they expect me to be perfect but don’t really believe I can blow my own nose. I feel like I’m suffocating, but if I get the least bit independent they try to control me with money.”

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/relationships/dysfunc.html

As soon as her mother’s car pulled away, Cathy Harper Lee always counted the blades of grass on the lawn.  She hoped to reach a high number.  That meant a few moments alone before her step-father ordered her inside.Cathy’s abuse began when she was just five-years-old. It was then that her step-father began what would become years of abuse, in which her step-father would molest and rape her, telling her over and over that he loved her.  He would touch her sometimes, and hold a gun to her head, pulling the trigger.  She never knew if the revolver was loaded but eventually she began to hope that it was.  Today, she doesn’t know why she never told her mother or anyone else what was going on at home.  Maybe she was too frightened.  Maybe she thought no one would believe her.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/survivor-stories/family/overcoming-child-abuse

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.– The father of a 5-year-old boy who died one week ago is dealing with his grief. Police charged the mother’s boyfriend with child abuse a few days later. Che Ernest Hazell, 29, of the 600 block of Arthur Avenue in Virginia Beach, was taken into police custody on April 6 and charged with assault and battery of a family member and child abuse and neglect.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/father-mourns-son%27s-death,-man-charged

A mother was arrested Sunday morning and charged with beating her 12-year-old son, who had earned an F on his report card, the Tampa Police Department said. Daymaris Vazquez, 35, of Tampa, hit her son several times with a wooden and a metal spatula, which caused bruising, according to an arrest affidavit.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/apr/11/mother-arrested-beating-child-making-bad-grade/

(Reuters) – The U.S. Roman Catholic Church and its insurers paid $124 million last year to settle allegations of child sexual abuse, up from $104 million a year earlier, a church-commissioned audit showed on Monday. There were 428 new allegations of sexual abuse against a minor filed in 2010, seven of which related to child abuse that was said to occur during the year, the U.S. Conference of Bishops said, citing the audit.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/11/us-usa-catholics-abuse-idUSTRE73A6LF20110411

A Sweetwater man faces charges for child abuse and neglect after he was arrested on Sunday. According to a police report, 30-year-old David Bryant was in the yard with a small child when officers arrived for a welfare check in the Valley Trailer Park in Sweetwater on April 10.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.wbir.com/news/article/165810/2/Sweetwater-man-faces-child-abuse-charges