Mothers of Everyday Heroes gather donations for young violence victims

As the saying goes, it should never hurt to be a child.[quote_box_right]A collection bin will be available during the Concert in the Park/Strut Your Mutt, a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event, on Oct. 15 at Copper Sky from6 to 8:30 p.m. A bin will also be at Maricopa Mud Run on Oct. 22 from 8 a.m. to noon.[/quote_box_right]

The Mothers of Everyday Heroes organization is collecting donations for Maricopa children who have been victims of or witness to violent crimes. Donations go to the two Family Advocacy Centers of Pinal County.

“If a child is involved in a violent crime here in Maricopa, they are taken to either Eloy or San Tan,” said Jennifer Ford, a board member of Mothers of Everyday Heroes. “Then there is an interview that’s done, and there are cameras in the corners and everything is filmed, so they only have to do one interview. And everything is taped. They have a forensic specialist, and in the same building they have a medical exam room, so they do all medical exams right there.

“It’s very kid-friendly. It’s very kind. A lot of these kids are taken right away. They have nothing. After the medical exam, they don’t even have their clothes, because they take those for evidence.”

Ford and MEH’s other board members, Terrell Hoffman, Ashley Abercrombie and Tracy Bright, are steering the effort during October – Domestic Violence Awareness Month – to gather supplies for the children.

“We have chief captains who have taken on groups of items and are doing the best that they can trying to collect them,” Ford said.

The drive is going on through Oct. 31. Two main collection days are scheduled. A collection bin will be available during the Concert in the Park/Strut Your Mutt, a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event, on Oct. 15 at Copper Sky from6 to 8:30 p.m. A bin will also be at Maricopa Mud Run on Oct. 22 from 8 a.m. to noon.

Those who want to donate can also contact MEH at [email protected].

[quote_box_left]“We are moms who are trying to teach our kids to be everyday heroes.” — Jennifer Ford[/quote_box_left]Abercrombie said seeing youth, including her own kids, become involved in service projects made her excited about the MEH effort to care for community members.

“I like being a part of stuff and serving those around in ways we don’t really think of,” Abercrombie said. “It just takes someone we know to take a step in order for us to realize we need to step it up ourselves. It’s one of those things that we don’t really realize until it’s in front of our face.”

The donation drive grew out of an MEH project last year for homeless children in Maricopa. Ford said she was made aware of the extent of domestic abuse, which she calls a plague in Maricopa, and was introduced to Family Advocacy Centers. FACs has requested 200 packs of items, though more than 830 children came through their doors in the past year. So MEH expects to provide more than asked.

“We always want to exceed,” Ford said.

This year, they are not collecting clothing unless someone makes a very large donation of cash. Some vendors have donated underwear.

Women’s groups from local churches and organizations are providing blankets and crocheting items for the children.

Ford said MEH enlisted local teens and asked them what they would need in such circumstances. Girls on the Maricopa High School volleyball team identified makeup.

“That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you’re a teenage girl going to school every day wearing makeup and then all of the sudden show up not wearing makeup, they know something’s wrong,” Ford said. “It’s to try to keep things as normal as possible.”

One of the youth groups helping MEH asked if they could help little kids by supplying toy cars and Barbies. And little kids are asking what they can do to help, too.

“If everyone does a little, it’s huge,” Abercrombie said.

That is the realization of the mission statement of Mothers of Everyday Heroes, which was created from the inspiration of Ford’s late son Nate Ford, who started an ongoing fund-raiser for veterans and whose legacy has become the Rocking 4D Foundation.

“We are moms who are trying to teach our kids to be everyday heroes,” she said. “Nate did it naturally. He went out and helped kids who needed help. Didn’t make a big deal out of it; just did it. But I grew up in a home where we didn’t do things like that. For some people, you just need to be taught or shown it’s not that hard.”

Donated Items Accepted:
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Tissue packs
Shampoo
Conditioner
Soap
Hand sanitizer
Wipes
Colored pencils
Coloring books
Composition books
Pocket folder
Crayons
Binder paper
Pencils
Pens
Erasers
Staples
Stapler
Pencil boxes
Highlighters
Glue sticks
Scotch tape
Scissors
Backpacks
Sports bottles