McLeod Alliance

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Alliance has several events planned to recognize the importance of this month.

Two fundraisers are planned, as well as booth at the local mall to share information about our services and a speaker is set as well. You can read all about the speaker in another article below.

The other events are listed on the Calendar page.

Don’t forget to “Like” our McLeod Alliance Facebook page, as we continuously update and make posts there as well.

On Sept. 12, McLeod Alliance staff took extra care to track its client service numbers as part of the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s (NNEDV) annual Domestic Violence Counts national survey. The annual census asks advocacy agencies to track the number of clients served in a 24-hour period.

In 2011, the NNEDV reported that on Sept. 15, 2011, there were 67,339 victims served in one day. There are 1,944 identified domestic violence programs in the United States, and 89 percent of them participated in last year’s survey.

In Minnesota alone, there were 1,405 domestic violence victims served last year on Domestic Violence Counts day, with only 59 percent of programs in the state participating.

Nationally, more than 21,000 hotline calls were recorded in 24-hour period. That averages out to 16 hotline calls per minute.

The NNEDV uses the data to highlight where programs struggle to provide services in its efforts to lobby for program funding at the national government level.

The results are in! The fifth year of the McLeod County Fair Recycling Program has netted McLeod Alliance $296.15. This is about $5 less than the 2011 fair.

The Alliance first partnered with McLeod County Solid Waste Management in 2007 in this green endeavor. Each year, crews have gathered more and more recyclables.

In 2011, the Fair Recycling Program brought in just more than $300. This was significant jump from previous years, both due to the large number of recyclables collected and the positive rebound of recycling prices.

This year, volunteers collected almost 4,000 more recyclables. Unfortunately, the 2012 recycling market prices are lower than last year.

McLeod County Solid Waste Management’s Sarah Young and Alliance Legal Advocate Jill Barrall co-chair this effort. The duo agrees that while it is a tough fundraiser to count on, it is a great cooperation between two county agencies for very worthy causes.

The Alliance especially wants to thank Young, the county crew of workers, the volunteers who helped set up and clean and first-time recycling crew members Paul, Donna and Briana Schwartz.

Upcoming event features reading by author who survived abusive marriage

October is around the corner. And to the Alliance and domestic violence advocacy agencies everywhere, it is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is a time to plan events and fundraisers to bring awareness to this issue that effects everyone— whether they know it or not!

As part of this year’s observance, the Alliance has partnered up with Christ the King LutheranChurch’s Family Life Committee to present a special evening with Evelyn Dahlke, who is a pastor, author and survivor of domestic violence. Dahlke chronicles her story in her book, “Butterfly Song.”

The event is set for Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Hutchinson. This event is possible due to the efforts and initiative of Valerie Bandas and members of the Family Life Committee at Christ the King. Bandas approached the Alliance with the idea of the speaker. The Alliance pointed out the importance of October to advocates and the evening began to take shape. In addition to Dahlke, McLeod Alliance staff will be on hand to answer questions and share information.

This keynote event for awareness month will close out the Alliance efforts to raise its public profile. Beginning Oct. 1, McLeod County Solid Waste Management will put a can trailer in the southwest corner of the Shopko parking lot for can collection during October. This will mark the third year this has been done. All the proceeds from cans collected during the month will come back to the Alliance.

Executive Director Rhonda Buerkle will be spreading awareness when she speaks to student nurses at McLeod County Public Health on Oct. 9. Also on Oct.9, there will be Buffalo Wild Wings fundraiser night . Fifteen percent of the proceeds from food sales between the hours of 11 and 9 p.m. will come back to the Alliance. Grab some friends and dine at BWW for a cause!