A Fighting Chance
Jaycee Dugard
During the month of April, Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe previews its anti-abduction program, A Fighting Chance for parents and interested community members.
Every year more than 5,000 stranger abductions take place. Jaycee Lee Dugard was one such child, when at the age of 11 she was abducted on June 10, 1991, by two strangers while walking to a school bus stop at South Lake Tahoe. She has never been seen again.
In 1997, Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe in cooperation with Jaycee's mother, Terry Probyn, and local law enforcement developed a cohesive program to make fifth-grade children more safe. The program was expanded in its second year to include fourth-graders. In the Spring of 2001, a third-grade curriculum was launched and a sixth-grade component added. The classroom instruction takes place during April and May in Lake Tahoe Unified and Douglas County school districts.
In addition to the classroom presentations, Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe is fortunate enough to have received a 97-98 Crown Victoria in collaboration with our local sheriff's department. We are now able to use the car during our presentations to show children how to escape from a car.
Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe is also in the process of producing a fifth-grade video tape and curriculum which will be made available through Soroptimist International of the Americas to Soroptimist Clubs nationwide.
© 2004 Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe