ELKINS – Community leaders, volunteers and supports gathered at Orchard Hall in Elkins Friday evening to celebrate those who are dedicated to be Champions for Children in both Tucker and Randolph Counties. The event is spearheaded by the Randolph/Tucker Children’s Advocacy Center, and this year honored five individuals and one group.
Lydia Johnson, Director of the Randolph/Tucker Children’s Advocacy Center, said this is the fourth annual Champion for Children’s event.
“This event is all about celebrating the good work that is being done in our communities for children who have been abused or neglected,” Johnson said. “The Children’s Advocacy Center is a very unique program in that our whole model is in working together on team work. This is another outgrowth of that and our way of publically saying thank you to the people who do this hard work.”
Johnson said the event recognizes them in front of everyone else and raise awareness of what the Children’s Advocacy Center does.
“There is a quote that says, ‘Children are not a distraction from more important work – they are our most important work,’” Johnson said. “I feel very privileged to do that most important work in support of our community. That is what tonight is all about – a celebration and recognition of the people doing that work.”
Community Partner Awards were awarded to Donna Megert, Jill Zurbuch and Roohi Khan. Nicola Merriman and the Davis & Elkins College Art Club received the Samaritan Award and Renee Yokum received the Professional Award.
Megert, of Elkins, works for the Northern West Virginia Center for Independent Living. She was recognized for her tireless efforts in advocating for children with disabilities.
“I am the administrative assistant for the Northern West Virginia Center for Independent Living,” Megert said. “I do more than just that. I feel the children are very important and the participation with other agencies is critical. If we can all get together we can get a lot done in our community.”
Megert said she feels it’s an honor to work with other agencies for the betterment of her community. Johnson said Megert is passionate about keeping children with disabilities out of nursing homes and helping their families get the support they need to take care of their children at home.
Zurbuch and Khan are guidance counselors at Elkins Middle School are were honored for their commitment to bringing prevention education into the school, specifically this year in their partnership with Women’s Aid in Crisis.
“The award was a surprise and we are thrilled,” Zurbuch said. “We are working hard to serve the children and support the community. We are honored to be here and to let people know we are working closely with the resources in our community. We are so lucky to have all of these agencies in our community. We are going to take this award and go back and work even harder.”
“Like Jill said, we work at Elkins Middle School as school counselors,” Khan said. “We are trying very hard to meet the new standards for school counselors and part of that is we designed a program to pick up facilitators to involve other resources to deliver the services to the students. We have tried very hard to involve all the community resources we have to come in and teach lessons on different issues that we face in middle school and use their expertise and knowledge to help us and inform the students of all the available resources in the community so that they can get help. I think they have, kind of, recognized us for making the middle school open to the community and making them part of our program.”
Johnson said Merriman approached the CAC when a student at Davis & Elkins College asking how she could help.
“This was not an internship,” Johnson said. “She was a volunteer on top of a busy schedule and she did this because she cares about the work of the CAC. She brought her graphic design skills to the table and helped with special events like last year’s Champions for Children dinner and the Run for It 5K race in Davis. She also organized members of the D&E Art Club, who painted murals in the Elkins CAC office.”
“The work of the CAC is important to me because my mom works at the one in Ohio, Belmont County,” Merriman said. “When I went to D&E I was excited to help out and it was an awesome experience. They are great people and it is a great program.”
Yokum is an advocate at Women’s Aid in Crisis. Johnson said she has worked diligently for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence for many, many years and serves as a role model for new professionals. She said Yokum always approaches children and their families with compassion and respect.
“I am sad to say that Renee won’t be able to join us for the event,” Johnson said. “Her brother is getting married on Saturday, so she already has a family commitment at the same time as our event. She is aware that she is going to be honored and her coworker, Jean Poling from WAIC is going to accept the award on Renee’s behalf.
Sponsors for the Champions for Children include Citizens Bank of West Virginia, the GFWC Woman’s Club of Elkins, Ray LaMora III, the Town of Montrose, Tygart Valley Distributors, Laurel Mountain Construction, Mountain Valley Bank, Reckart Logistics, Williams & Associates A.C., and Elkins Auto.
Musical performances for the evening included those by Walter King, Patrick McKay, Linsey McCollam, John McCauley and the Third Ward Elementary School Choir. The lasagna dinner for the evening was prepared by the men and women of St. Patrick’s Parish in Coalton.
The Children’s Advocacy Center has served Randolph and Tucker counties since 2003. Additional information about the programs is available by calling 304-630-2214.
