During the first blizzard of our 2022-2023 winter season, we held a successful fundraiser at the Children’s Justice Center. Charlyne Wozniak, who served as the Secretary of the Friends for several years and is well known in the community as a tireless volunteer and a generous donor, was this year’s honoree. The Friends continue to be grateful to her and her husband, Paul, for their amazing support over the years. Thanks to them and so many wonderful donors, we were able to raise over $20,000 throughout the evening.

A short program was led by our Treasurer, Janet Beckman, which included making introductions and communicating the importance of our donors and the CJC Multidisciplinary to the mission of the Friends.

Other speakers included:

• Patricia Cassell, Summit County Chief Prosecutor since July 2016. Prosecuting the offenders who abuse and maltreat the children of Summit County is one of her primary duties.
• Bailey Carmack, a teen member of the CJC Advisory Council. She explained how she and fellow member, Chloe Taurel, worked with the administration at Park Senior High School to ensure teens could understand when and how to report child abuse, which included hanging 70+ posters at PCHS.
• Skyler Talbot and Taesha Higbee, Summit County Sheriff’s Department School Resource Officers. They answered questions and explained their role as part of the MDT team and keeping kids safe.

CJC Director, Ted Walker, supported our event and answered attendee questions, while great food and service from Hearth and Hill, as well as beautiful music performed by Shannon Runyon were highlights of the event.