In a wave of bright yellow T-shirts, Muncie community members circled John E. Worthen Area to raise awareness for child abuse.
Lap after lap, parents with young children, senior citizens and young adults walked around the arena concourse to participate in We Have a Voice, sponsored by the Suzanne Gresham Center, a branch of Meridian Services.
Suzanne Gresham, for whom the agency was named, was among the crowd. Child abuse and neglect are topics that have been close to her heart since she started working for a child protection agency out of college.
"It's been my passion from forever," she said. "You see some horrific situations that should not happen to little people."
This is the second year for the event, and there were more than 300 participants, each of whom received yellow event T-shirts. Beth Meyer, director of Marketing for Meridian Services, said child abuse has grown substantially in Delaware County in the past few years. Stress from the economic downturn may have contributed to the increase, she said.
Ryan Rhoabes, program manager for the Gresham Center's foster care program, said he was happy with the large community response.
"It's a cause that's easy to get behind," he said. "Everyone knows child abuse is out there."
In Delaware County, more than 1,900 cases of abuse and neglect were reported last year, according to statistics from the Suzanne Gresham Center. There were 84 confirmed cases of sexual abuse, 58 confirmed cases of physical abuse and 341 confirmed cases of neglect.
Molly McGuire, supervisor of the Department of Child Services in Delaware County, attended the walk with her three children. McGuire said while the number of reported cases in Delaware County has gone up, she's glad more people are actually reporting abuse and neglect.
The Gresham Center recently got on board with the Indiana toll free hotline to report neglect and abuse, McGuire said. Before now, each county in Indiana processed cases differently, but now they will all be filed the same way.
Rhoabes said limited resources in the community can make his job difficult.
"Insurance and Medicaid are being cut back, and there's not enough assistance to go around," he said.
College students can help by getting involved in programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Court Appointed Special Advocate Association.
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