| In this
Edition:
Happy
Summer from SCA!
Message
from the Chair
Festivals,
Fun and Fairs - Oh My!
Be Safe in the Summer Heat!
The History of
Independence Day
Collaboration in Action: Sleep Train and
SCA!
Sacramento Child
Advocates Inc. Board of Directors Welcomes
7 New
Board Members
Seasonal
Recipe:
Chicken Bean
Sprout Salad
Kids' Reading Corner
SCA
Launches National
Vehicle Donation Program
Making Cents for SCA
with the OneCause
Toolbar!
Thank You Betsy!
A Benefit for Children |
Happy
Summer from SCA!
Fourth of July brings on
the cheerful times of
Red, White and Blue.
With barbeques, picnics,
parades and fireworks
lined up, there are
enough reasons to
celebrate and spread
around cheers for a fun-tas-tic
Fourth of July.
Message from the
Chair
I bought a vase in
Jamaica last month. It
was wrapped in the front
page of the December 18,
2008 edition of
Kingston’s Observer West
newspaper. The page
contains a large photo
of a well dressed man
(linen shirt, expensive
watch) handing a check
to a woman. A
nearly-toothless man and
a younger woman look
on. It seems that the
older woman, a mother,
needed financial
assistance to bury her
two children, 10 and 16,
who had died from food
poisoning after eating
“a meal of ackee, canned
mackerel and rice.” The
donor told of
reading about the
mother’s misfortune. “I
was touched in more ways
than one. And then I
had to answer the call
because if you are
touched you can’t just
sit there … So I decided
to see what I can do.”
SCA had just celebrated
its 10th
year in existence when I
joined the Board of
Directors nearly seven
years ago. Since I
signed on, much has
changed, and little has
changed. With tragic
consequences, children
continue to slip through
the safety net that
Child Protective
Services is supposed to
provide. Funding for
children’s medical,
dental, educational and
legal services continues
to decline, despite
increasing needs. SCA’s
funding, which was
barely adequate when I
joined the Board, is now
at a crisis level --
despite extraordinary
efforts of many
committed people. Just
as the Jamaican mother
could not bury her
children properly
without money, it takes
money to provide
children’s services. At
SCA, we have had to face
the reality that funding
limits the ability of
our attorneys and staff
to do everything
possible for our
clients. That is a
painful reality.
The children whom SCA
serves are a part of our
community. They are
literally among us, and
their needs are not
being met. The Jamaican
man had it right. “If
you are touched you
can’t just sit there.”
As my university mentor,
a radical French nun,
told me decades ago, “allons-y,”
let’s roll!
Betsy Kimball -
Chairperson of the Board |
