Emerson Family Center holds first annual Bikes Not Bruises
On Saturday, the Emerson Family Center held their first ever Bikes Not Bruises trikea-thon at Sudduth Elementary. This is one of the many events EFC is doing during the month of April for Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month in Starkville.
EFC had staff and volunteers out at a table with resources, free children's books to help start a child's library, and t-shirts to help raise awareness about child maltreatment. The shirts are blue like the ribbons for this month and they have the hashtag on them with the slogan “It takes a community.”
The slogan is in reference to it takes a community to help in the effort against child abuse and to help the children who have been victims of maltreatment.
Starkville Fire Department was also there, and they set up the white ladder one truck across from the table EFC set up so the children at the event could see a fire engine up close and personal.
The Bikes Not Bruises event was EFC'S family outing, and WCBI'S Aundrea Self led a parade of children to kick off the event. The children followed on their bicycles and tricycles up and down the front stretch of the elementary school that was marked off thanks to Starkville Police Department. Soon the children zipped up and down and let out their pent up energy. Despite the storm the night before, there was a decent turnout to the event and the children were incredibly happy to decorate their bikes with streamers and bows.
Veronica King, a family specialist with EFC, brought her son, and she was happy with the engagement the trike-a-thon brought.
“Usually we have a picnic, but this year we decided to do this, and the kids seem super happy which is what matters,” King said. “We have all kinds of events throughout the month to raise awareness and we educate people what to look for and the signs of child abuse. Events help us to engage with the community, and we're able to help other communities who don't have resource centers like Emerson. We aren't just helping those in Starkville.”
If you missed the trikea-thon this year, they plan to have one next year. EFC is also doing informational sessions through Facebook every Thursday at 6 p.m. You can find them on Facebook at Facebook. com/theresourcelibrary.