Citizen’s Against Abuse will host its first annual Standing Up Against Bullying fundraiser tonight.
Community members are invited to attend the fundraiser from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bolingbrook Community Center, 201 Canterbury Drive.
“We’re trying this fundraiser to get another oppor-tunity to raise additional funds for partnerships and outreach efforts,” said Jack-ie Traynere, a Will County board member and organiz-er of the nonprofit Citizen’s Against Abuse, a Boling-brook-based organization that raises awareness and aims to prevent abuse across a broad spectrum.
Proceeds from the event will benefit local service or-ganizations that assist, educate or support members of the community affected by issues of domestic violence, bullying and other abuse.
The fundraiser’s theme will take on cyberbullying and with it, there are hopes to extend the organization’s reach toward young people.“We want to make sure they [young people] protect themselves,” said Traynere, who emphasized how young people can be vulnerable to abuse.
The event will provide dinner and a presentation from Melissa Hemzacek, a licensed professional social worker and Internet Safety Special-ist from the Illinois Attorney General’s High Tech Crimes Bureau.
The presentation’s topic will cover how parents can protect their children from cyberbullying.Citizens Against Abuse has been serving Will County for 16 years. It was formerly recognized as Take Back the Night of Will County before taking on a new name about a year and a half ago.
Traynere said the name change has improved the organization’s support of Take Back the Night, the nation level organization.
The fundraiser is a prelude to Citizen’s Against Abuse’s 16th annual Take Back the Night Rally and March, planned for Oct. 16 in Bolingbrook.
To purchase tickets or for information, visit www.facebook.com/stopabuse or www. takebackthenight.org.