L to R: Kayla Snyder (DCS), Mary Baker(DCS), Brianna Ingram (GHS), Jaycee Johnson (GHS)
According to the TN Child Advocacy Center, every hour of every day there is an allegation of child abuse/neglect in the state of Tennessee. Smith County Child Protective Services averages 25 referrals a month. There is an average of 50 to 75 children from our county in state custody at any given time. Currently we have 60 children in state custody. 11 are age 3 and under. This number reflects only the children in paid placements which does not include the ones in relative placements that receive services but no financial assistance.
It is not uncommon for children to need a placement during the night, arrive without personal belongings due to inaccessibility, or have to wait hours at a DCS office while a placement is being located. Sometimes homes are needed for one child, other times it is for siblings.
Due to these circumstances, the Gordonsville High School FCCLA Chapter chose to sponsor a diaper drive to help this population and their caretakers. Through the love and generosity of the people of Smith County and the faculty and students of Gordonsville High School, over 8000 diapers were donated to DCS.
We the members of the GHS FCCLA Chapter want to thank our peers and all the churches that donated to the children of Smith County. We would especially like to thank Brianna Ingram and Jaycee Johnson for serving as leaders in this chapter service project. Foster homes continue to be a need but hopefully diapers will be one less worry.
Jaycee Johnson and Brianna Ingram proudly display the diapers donated to DCS during GHS FCCLA’s diaper drive service project.
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