April 15, 2007

To all those who supported/participated in the Race to Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse:

First, thank you to everyone who helped make great the fourth international Race to Stop the Silence, this year presented by The Walking Company and Comcast. The first year felt like a celebration, and the second year was testament to the headway we are making on awareness raising, fundraising, and programming support. With the third year, we noted a successful and growing race (over 1,000 involved that year from 22 states and a few foreign countries) and the institutionalization of it. In addition to the obvious (a great race), the Race has, in its fourth year, once again showed its continued ability to do what it was supposed to do: bring out the policymakers and the public and raise mass awareness and one-on-one as well as through direct outreach and the media, respectfully. We can, indeed, stop the silence and concretely address the issue - we need everyone to do it. We again had approximately 1,000 participating this year with great media outreach (see below).

There are always so many to thank for this progress, but first let me tell you about the Race and the program! Glenn Ivey, Prince George's County Maryland State's Attorney, helped kick off the informational portion of the race (as well as providing an expert, "Go" at race time). He noted seeing cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) in the courts over and over again, and the need to get out and talk about it to others, and act. The Rear Admiral Kenneth Moritsugu, Acting Surgeon General (SG) and Victor Vieth, Director of Child Abuse Programs for the National District Attorney's Association, were AMAZING. The Acting Surgeon General noted the need to prevent CSA and had people chanting, "Stop the Silence" over and over again at the end of his speech. Victor nearly moved me (and probably nearly everyone else there) to tears with his recounting of the children he's seen and cases he's prosecuted over the year and what we can all do individually to halt CSA. A big thank you to Rebecca Fontaine, who provided the expert signing for us all.

The Race was a grand success and went off without a hitch! First of all: No rain! And the runners did very well. Stephan Crane (25) of Alexandria, VA can be especially proud of his fine winning time of 31:27, which is 5:04 per mile. Hannan Waugh (25) from Newton Abbey came all the way across the pond (from Ireland) to win the race in 41:33. We had prizes for top-level finishers as well as for first-third finalists in 14 age categories. Wonderful prizes came from The Walking Company, Southwest Airlines, Snowshoe Mountain Resort, and Imprinted Sportswear. Special awards, provided by Arnold Engravers in D.C., went to Ms. Foundation for Women and Pat Troy, Chairperson of the Board of Stop the Silence for their continued support and hard work. Peter Woods and Antonio Wilkerson, students in my Community Action Project at Cezar Chavaz School of Public Policy, Parkside campus, finished the race (and their colleagues Tiyonna Yates and Mia Palmer volunteered). The kids' race was fantastic - out in front was a "rabbit" (runner) for the kids to chase around the big field and back. All kids got toys from Tree Top Toys in D.C. and a medal from Crowne Trophies in Gaithersburg. Other kids' activities included story reading, face painting, and more. We had professional photographer Jan Goff-Lafontaine taking pictures of survivors in poses that reflected their healing and a new page of our Web site will start soon reflecting their growth and hope. Various organizations set up booths including ChildHelp USA Northern Virginia Chapter, Children's Hospital, and the DC Crisis Center. Those fun walking helped raise additional funds through pledges made. Lots of post-race food and bottled water donated from various companies (see box below) kept people coming back to the food tent for bagels, power bars, and fruit. All was good.

Our primary goal for this year was to raise awareness and knowledge to a heightened degree about the issue and about the work that needs to be done and to support programming. We reached millions through the media. This information provided and name recognition will help us pave the way for our upcoming future work. We were able to accomplish it through the help of our media sponsors and the other media involved. The list of those involved this year included: Comcast; numerous ClearChannel stations including DC 101; the Code Red Show and other radio programs and station; Women's Calendar/ Women's Radio; WAMU; WTOP; TV Channels 4, 8, 9, and more; and newsletters and newspapers like the American Psychological Association's Section on Maltreatment and the Washington Post, respectively. We paid for some of the media reach, but well over $125,000 in media time was donated!

This Race and the information it has shared have helped us catalyze a movement. Stop the Silence has thus far received funds from various groups including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Ford Foundation, the Department of Justice, the Sunshine Lady Foundation, the Gannett Foundation and others to develop comprehensive programming. We are currently working on the National Children's Bench Book for judges and other court-related personnel so that they have the most up-to-date information about the resulting trauma caused by abuse and so that they are able to make the most informed decisions regarding the children and cases in front of them. We continue to provide training, education and outreach to communities in various states and countries.

As we look toward 2008, our goals for the organization and the Race are again to go beyond the accomplishment thus far. This coming year, we will focus on further increasing involvement in communities through advocacy, training, education, and policy development - in the U.S. and abroad. As all who spoke at the Race noted, child sexual abuse is part of what is at the crux of some of the extreme health and societal ills that we all face daily one way or another. I know, from what I have learned from our research and heard and saw at the Race that this Race is making a difference here and elsewhere.

We hope you will make a commitment now to support us over this next year - the Race takes a year to plan, and our programming is moving ahead on a number of fronts! Please feel free to contact me at any time through the "Contact Us" link on this Web site or at . Thank you so very much.

Very best regards,
Pamela Pine, PhD, MPH
Founder, Stop the Silence

THANK YOU… to all our sponsors and collaborators. First, a very big thank you to our two top sponsors: The Walking Company, which provided wonderful prizes for our winners; Ms. Foundation for Women, which supported us for a fourth year in a row; The Constella Group, which provided a substantial grant; and Snowshoe Mountain Resort, which supported us with both a monetary and prize sponsorship. A huge thank you, too, to: Facets Woman, and The Calvert Group. Others provided in-kind help that was incalculable in terms of value: Channel 9, Women's Radio/Women's Calendar, Comcast, DC 101,Code Red Radio Show, r squared design and advertising, the Sidran Institute, Global Action for Children, the Tree Top Toys, Crowne Medals, Bethesda Bagels, Bread Unlimited, Safeway, Giant Foods, Whole Foods, and DrinkMore Water. Also, thanks to all the organizations that provided information about the Race to others. To Nadeoui Eden, who helps gather food and water for the race. Thank you to the Marriott Hotel in Greenbelt, MD, which provided a place for those who were important to the race and who were from out of town. Thank you again to the Wizards Dance Team (third year)! And, for the fourth year, to Doug Willier, who is so talented and is absolutely indispensable to the design of and information presented on our Web site. I cannot leave out our wonderful volunteers, about whom I continue to hear accolades, and enormous and special thanks to the Kim Ratliff, Volunteer Coordinator. To Joe Jimaldinian, Anita Wladichuk, and Jan Goff-LaFontaine, who all donated their books and/or proceeds from them to Stop the Silence. Thank you to Ramon Korionoff, Communications Director, Prince George's County Maryland State's Attorney, Glenn Ivey, who was critical in reaching the media. I cannot possibly leave out a hearty Thank You to the National Park Service. And, thank you to the Capital Running Co., which provides unequalled expertise for these events. Also to all the runners and walkers, and all else who contributed - simply put, the entire event would not have been without YOU.