As the February charity comes to a close this weekend, we’ve decided to hold a special raffle. This will end at midnight tomorrow and has some great prizes on offer.

• From Sarah Robinson – donate $25.00 or more and be entered into the draw to win over $800 worth of goodies:

http://www.themaverickmom.com/uncategorized/support-stop-silence-win-great-swag/

• From John Haydon – donate $25.00 or more and get the chance to win 3 months of social media coaching ($750 value)

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2009/02/enter-win-months-free-social-media-coaching-supporting-12for12korg/

• From April Tara – donate $20.00 and she will make you a customized Twitter background if you’re a Twitter user.

http://www.thatcrazymom.com/499/stop-sexual-abuse/ (and watch April’s video in support of this month’s charity while you’re there – very powerful).

• From AccuConference – donate $25.00 and receive $500 worth of free audio conferencing (1 winner). Keep your receipt and email to charities@12for12k.org and we will make the draw for the lucky recipient.

http://www.accuconference.com/

So as you can see, some great ways to not only support this month’s amazing charity (dealing with child sexual abuse) but the chance to have some great stuff too! You can make your donation by using the ChipIn widget to the right or via this link.

As always, thanks for all your support guys. Have a great weekend, don’t be afraid to invite more people to 12for12k, and good luck in the raffle!!

Stop the Silence is an amazing charity that is doing some incredibly difficult and heartbreaking work – dealing with the sexual abuse of children.

DONATE HERE

Across the world, 150 million girls and 73 million boys are subjected to forced sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual violence (WHO, 2002). In the U.S. at least one out of four girls and one out of seven boys are sexually abused by 18 years old.  Nearly 50 percent of all sexual assaults are against girls aged 15 or younger. There are an estimated 60-80 million survivors of CSA in the U.S. alone.

Life outcomes often include poor school performance, depression, psychosis, promiscuity, teen pregnancy, prostitution, drug abuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, homelessness, suicide and homicide, and chronic disease. Between doctors, lawyers, social service workers and many others, it costs the U.S. billions of dollars each year to address the aftermath of the abuse – it needs to be prevented, and treated correctly if it happens.

The Mission of Stop the Silence is to expose and stop child sexual abuse and help survivors heal worldwide. The charity’s overarching goals are to:

1) help stop child sexual abuse (CSA) and related forms of violence;

2) promote healing of victims and survivors;

3) celebrate the lives of those healed.

Through their work, Stop the Silence aims to address the relationships between child sexual abuse and the broader issues of overall family and community violence, and violence within and between communities.

While the popular belief is that sexual abuse is carried out by strangers who lure their child victims, the majority is actually carried out by people in positions of trust. Family; friends of the family; teachers; community leaders and more. This leaves the child feeling as if they’re to blame – why else would someone they trust abuse them in this way?

While our original charity for February was going to be an animal-based one, the 12for12k Challenge believes strongly in what Stop the Silence is trying to achieve. We hope you do too, and help us raise much-needed funds for this inspiring cause.

DONATE HERE

• Note: When using the ChipIn widget to make your donation, the email on the front page will be the main 12for12k Charities one. However, your payment does go directly to Stop the Silence and your PayPal or Credit Card receipt will show this.