Savannah's Rape Crisis And Mediation Centers To Benefit From St. Peter's Episcopal Fundraiser

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Feb. 3, 2014 - PRLog -- St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island announced that it will be hosting their third Market at 3 West Ridge on Friday, February 21^st and Saturday, February 22^nd .  The event features 23 selected vendors offering merchandise not available locally.  According to event co-chair Sharon Grozine, "We are pleased the Market at 3 West Ridge is happening again and we are excited that over half of our vendors are new to the Market at 3 West Ridge.   So even our returning shoppers will see a lot of new items.   This is the only Savannah stop for virtually all of these folks in 2014! "  She went on to say, "Our shoppers will be dazzled by the wide array of fantastic merchandise including men's and women's clothing, accessories and jewelry, home decor, gourmet foods and culinary tools,....heck we even have hand-embroidered dog collars!"

St. Peter's Episcopal Church Women (ECW), the organization which oversees Market at 3 West Ridge, selected two Savannah-based non-profits to be the recipients of all of the event proceeds.  This year, The Mediation Center and the Rape Crisis Center will benefit from the fundraiser.  Last year the group generated more than $30,000 for Park Place and Horizons Savannah.  The ECW chose this year's organizations because they requested funding for their programs specifically created to combat child and youth bullying.

"Bullying in our Chatham County schools is a real problem" said Patty Frothingham, event co-chairperson. " According to Savannah Chatham County Public Schools, just under 2,000 "fights", not including cases coded as assault and battery, were recorded in the 2010-11 school year."  she elaborated.  Frothingham went on to say, "And I'm sure that bullying goes on at all of our private and parochial schools too."

The national bullying statistics are staggering as surveys have revealed that over 70% of all school-aged children report daily incidents of some form of bullying.  And the cyber-bullying that has evolved is even more insidious because the victims now have no means to escape its constant online assault and its potential to become viral.

The Mediation Center has created and administered a special Peer Mediation Program for students.  According to Wendy Williamson, Executive Director of the center, "We are focused on teaching our children and youth that verbal or physical retaliation is not acceptable at home or in school.  We intensively train selected students at virtually every Chatham County school (grades 4-12) in how to mediate between their fellow students.  Critical coaching is given in effective communication and they are taught how to become an UPstander instead of a bystander when bullying occurs."

"The effects of bullying can follow a child into his or her adulthood in the form of low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, addiction and relationship problems," explained Kesha Gibson-Carter, the Rape Crisis Center's Executive Director.   She further elaborated, "So we have taken it upon our organization to counterattack the bullying by training children and youth in how to recognize when they are being bullied by a peer or an adult, in how to build healthy relationships, and how to seek help when they feel victimized."  She went on to say, "We are all concerned about the mounting issue of bullying.  It's one thing to say that a school has a zero tolerance policy but isn't it better that in addition to that we have active prevention programs in place to teach our kids about how damaging the results can be for the bullied victim as well as the bully himself. And to equip our children how to stand up for themselves, as well as teaching their peers to use nonviolent skills to diffuse a bad situation is just as critical."

Grozine concluded, "We hope that Savannahians come to shop at the Market at 3 West Ridge.  Last year over 700 people attended this event and they were delighted with the array of merchandise available. This year we have even more vendors and each one donates 15% of  their sales to the event.  This year we hope to see even more folks come by and shop our event so that we can support these two deserving non-profits and their valuable programs."

About The Market at 3 West Ridge

The event will take place on Friday, February 20th (10am- 6:30 pm) and Saturday, February 21st (10am-4pm).  On Friday after 5pm complimentary wine and tasty morsels will be served to shoppers.  Lunch and seated dining will be available both shopping days.  There is a $5.00 door admission which is good for both event days.  Presale tickets (door & lunch) can be purchased by calling the event info line at 912.598.4318

About St. Peter's Episcopal Church
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (http://stpeterssav.org/) is a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Currently, St. Peter’s has 695 communicants within its congregation.  The parish is active in numerous community endeavors. For more information, please contact Diane Oxnard, Event Publicity at 912-656-8974 (tel:912-656-8974) or doxnard99@aol.com or visit our website at http://stpeterssav.org/.