Guardian ad Litem hosts Friday afternoon program

Child Abuse Prevention Month
Historic Courthouse, today at 5 p.m.

Dozens of pairs of shoes, sized from tiny to large, will be on display on the north side of the Historic Courthouse steps at 5 p.m. today, April 28, and each pair of shoes will represent a Laurens County child in foster care this year in a program offered annually by the Cass Elias McCarter Guardian ad Litem office in Laurens County.
The event is from 5 p.m. to about 5:45 p.m. today, April 28, and is presented to raise awareness about the problem of child abuse and child neglect in the county, and also the great need for more trained Guardian ad Litem volunteers and more certified foster families who will open their homes to children in need.
“Last year we had about 200 pair of shoes,” said Karla Frey, program coordinator I for the Laurens County office of GAL, “and they were children placed all over the state because there aren’t enough foster families here.”
The program will feature Jarvis Reeder, chief deputy for the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, as the keynote speaker, and the public is invited to the event.
It will partly coincide with the beginning of Main Street Laurens’ first Finally Friday! and its annual fund-raiser event, “Sip-n-Stroll,” which begins at 5:30 and goes until 9 p.m.
“Guardian ad Litem is very much a volunteer-driven program,” Frey said, “and so we felt coinciding with the start of Sip-n-Stroll would allow more people to see what Guardian ad Litem does and possibly get involved.”

Free training sessions for GAL volunteers begin May 8. For information call (864) 984-5457.