Life Guards: Epilogues of Hope

Life Guards: epilogues of hope

A river ran through the village. One day a villager heard cries coming from the river and saw a child struggling and floundering in the rushing water. The villager leapt into the icy current and with much effort pulled the child to safety.

The next day two other villagers heard cries from the river and they too worked to pull several children out of the swiftly flowing water.

Day after day it continued. Little and big, boys and girls, the children kept coming. They tumbled down the river, nearly downing, gasping for breath, needing to be rescued.

The villagers called a meeting. They honored the brave rescuers and then began to discuss better ways to save the children, more efficient techniques and procedures. They talked about how to get more rescuers and to start a campaign to raise money for rescue training. They talked late into the night until one villager raised her hand and asked a question:

“I was wondering, how did these children come to be in the river in the first place?”





The Children’s Alliance, with my mentor, Rex Stewart as Chair and Dr. Mike Jordan (his real name) as Program Coordinator, is working to keep children from venturing near the riverbank, and helping to pull them out when they are drowning. The Children’s Alliance is a non-profit organization whose vision is to create, in Herald County, “a community that values all children and families, accomplished by nurturing a family environment while providing safe, effective services of the highest quality.” In 2004 the Children’s Alliance obtained $568,000 in grants to fund programs for children. One area of concern has been the lack of after school programs. Currently the Children’s Alliance funds 17 after school programs reaching over 700 children. In 2005 the Children’s Alliance identified child abuse and family violence as posing the greatest risk to Herald County children. The Children’s Alliance partnered with the Herald County Sheriff’s department, formed a task force, then hired and trained people to combat all types of domestic violence.

Readers who wish to help the children in mentioned in this book and hundreds of others like them, are encouraged to donate generously to the Children’s Alliance. For more information:

The web site is: www.mcchildrensalliance.com
The email address is: mcpsalliance@marion.k12.fl.us
The phone number for Dr. Mike Jordan is: (352) 671-7237