CLOTHING SOUGHT FOR CHILD VICTIMS OF METH

Clothing is needed for children removed from places were meth is being
cooked. A drive to obtain clothing will be conducted by the new Child
Advocacy Center in Cookeville on Saturday, April 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 2
p.m. in the parking lot of Goodwill on South Jefferson Ave.

"The clothes are intended for children who have been removed from meth
homes," said Jennifer Wilkerson of the Advocacy Center. "What happens when
those children are removed where meth is manufactured is they are taken to
the hospital for a physical exam.

"All their clothing is removed, and they're not allowed to take their
personal belongings."

Wilkerson said that 179 children in the Upper Cumberland region were
removed from homes last year where methamphetamine was being produced or used.

"It's because of the chemicals and things in it," Wilkerson said. "They
(children) leave the hospital in a hospital gown. It usually pops up at the
spur of the moment, so foster families aren't prepared with clothing for them."

In addition to children's clothing, the Center also hopes to collect car seats.

"A huge percentage of children removed from homes are car-seat age
children," she said. "It is not safe to drive them even a short distance
without car seats.

"If car seats are in the home where meth is produced, they can't be brought
with them," she said.

"The Dept. of Children's Services has some but it's almost impossible for
them to keep enough," she said. "The car seats would go with the child as a
gift to the family."

But the Child Advocacy Center seeks to help more than just children removed
from meth homes.

The Center, just formed last year, combines the efforts of child protective
services, law enforcement, the district attorney's office and medical
professionals in a comfortable one-stop facility for all child abuse victims.

Because child abuse victims often have to recount their experiences several
times to various agencies, the new center seeks to eliminate that process
by combining the efforts of all those agencies.

The Center doesn't have a permanent location yet, according to Wilkerson,
but some services are already being provided out of the district attorney's
office, and the administrative office for the Center is located there.

"In order for this program to be a success, we need a lot of support from
the community," Wilkerson said.

The center will serve Putnam as well as White, DeKalb, Pickett, Clay,
Overton and Cumberland Counties.

Wilkerson said about four children per day are removed from homes in this
district because of child abuse.

Prior to the children's clothing drive next Saturday, those who wish to
give may also drop off children's clothing and car seats at K-Mart,
Heavenly Visions Christian Bookstore and First Baptist Church in Cookeville.

On Saturday, April 3rd, volunteers will also be selling food to benefit the
child advocacy center, and children's activities will be held.

The children's clothing drive is sponsored by Papa John's Pizza and Kick's
106.9.

For more information about the Child Advocacy Center or the children's
clothing drive, call Jennifer Wilkerson at (931) 525-1080.