April 11, 2024 - The Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center celebrated its 13th Butterfly Release on Thursday, April 11, 2024 on the Historic Downtown Square.
Families gathered in front of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce office as Tanner Peace, President of the Board of Directors of the SCCAC, welcomed everyone, “We thank each and everyone of you for being here and especially on behalf of myself and the other Board of Directors, what we do for the kids in this county would not be possible without your support, we thank each and everyone of you for that. I believe this is our 13th year, each year we go and do it, it just keeps getting bigger.”
Shelby County Advocacy Center Representatives
Before introducing Bro. Rob Merriman to give the invocation, Peace thanked the event sponsor, Farmers State Bank. Their support of the event has been there from the very first butterfly release. Bro. Merriman gave thanks for the beautiful day and the community. He prayed for protection over the children and gave thanks for the hope and protection the Children’s Advocacy Center provides.
Next, City of Center Mayor David Chadwick addressed the crowd speaking about the impact the Children’s Advocacy has on our county. He then shared the Indian Legend of the butterfly, what it means, and how you would tell a butterfly a secret. He continued to explain the butterfly is symbolic of the gesture that we try to instill in a child to tell someone what their problems are. According to the legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens. He continued, “This is kind of what the Advocacy does in a lot of ways. They bring children, they bring young adults, they bring some adults into an opportunity to express to someone that they can trust something that is going wrong in their life. That’s important to have someone to listen.”
He encouraged everyone in the community that if you see something inappropriate going on, it’s all of our responsibilities to let these people know about it.
Mayor Chadwick then instructed everyone to let their butterflies out of the little blue triangle envelopes so they could wake up and fly!
Resources:
- Shelbycountycac.com - Shelby County Children's Advocacy Center
- CACTX.org - Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas
- Childwelfare.gov - National child Abuse Prevention Month 2020 Strong and Thriving Families
- Preventchildabuse.org - 2020 Child Abuse Prevention Month
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