Child abuse and neglect prevention programs statewide will benefit from the $414,790 raised at the 17th annual Children’s Trust Fund Pam Posthumus Signature Auction Event at the Michigan State University Breslin Center.
In its history, the event has now earned just under $7 million, which has funded direct services through local agencies throughout the state that provide child abuse prevention programs. That includes funding to 73 local child abuse prevention councils that provide primary prevention in 83 counties, as well as direct service grants for respite care, parenting support and education, home visiting and family support, among other programming.
About 600 people attended the event. They helped children by bidding on items such as ticket packages for pro and college sporting events, concert tickets, eight days in a Caribbean villa in Belize an oceanfront Hawaiian vacation for seven days that includes flights via Delta Air Lines and a dinner hosted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. at the governor’s residence in Lansing.
Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon were among the attendees of the event.
The auction is the major fundraiser for the Children’s Trust Fund, which is within MDHHS. It pays for services such as respite care, home visitations, child development support and other targeted services allowing local partners around the state to continue to provide education and other prevention programs.
“The 17th Annual Pam Posthumus Signature Event was a celebration of the public and private sector working together to strengthen our families and protect our children across the great state of Michigan, said Suzanne Greenberg, executive director of the Children’s Trust Fund. “On behalf of our Board of Directors, I’d like to thank our donors, volunteers, staff and those in attendance. For without you, our critical child abuse prevention programming would not be possible.”
The event is named in memory of Pam Posthumus, a tireless advocate for preventing child abuse. She was appointed to the Children’s Trust Fund Board of Directors in 1997 and became its chair in 2002.
During the event, the Children’s Trust Fund presented the 2019 Children’s Advocate Award to former Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof and Hertel for their tireless advocacy for children and the Children’s Trust Fund mission of preventing child abuse and neglect. Michigan artist Jason Keusch of Portland designed the awards.
Created by the Michigan Legislature in 1982, the Children’s Trust Fund is Michigan’s only statewide nonprofit organization solely dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. For more information on Children’s Trust Fund efforts to end child abuse or to donate, visit www.michigan.gov/ctf. The event is made possible by the generosity of the following sponsors: Cinnaire, CNSI, DTE Energy Foundation, Jackson National Life, Delta Air Lines, M3 Group, Meijer, the UAW and many more.
