Click here to view the article on the Suburban Journals website.

Crider Health Center recently recieved $2,500 in funding from the Children's Trust Fund.  The following article was featured in the Suburban Journal.

From left: Gil Copley, director of the St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment; Steve Martinez, vice president of development and marketing for Crider Health Center; Bruce Sowatsky, executive director of the Community and Children's Resource Board; Katrina Harper, vice president of Children and Family Services at Crider Health Center; Pat Holtermann-Hommes, chief programs officer for Youth In Need; Frank Martinez, Community and Children's Resource Board member and chairman of the Children's Trust Fund Committee; Val White, Community and Children's Resource Board member; Gloria Lee and Leona Swank, of Our Lady's Inn; Art Wash and Val White, Community and Children's Resource Board members; and Katie Corrigan, senior program director for Crisis Nursery.

GIVING BACK: Licensed to help children

Seven agencies that provide child abuse prevention services in St. Charles County received funds collected through the Children's Trust Fund license plate campaign.

For a $25 donation a year to the Children's Trust Fund, motorists receive an official CTF license plate with the child's green handprints logo and a "prevent child abuse" message. The money is distributed back into local child abuse prevention programs and support CTF grant activities.

More than $20,000 was distributed in St. Charles County this year.

Representatives from the seven agencies attended a Feb. 23 meeting of the Community and Children's Resource Board of St. Charles County. They were recognized for their work on behalf of children and youth in the county.

"We want to thank the community first because their participation in the license plate campaign provides the basis for the donations we receive from the Children's Trust Fund. This year we are pleased to be able to give $20,700 to agencies involved in child abuse prevention programs for our community's children and youth," said Frank Martinez, board member and leader of the county's license plate campaign. "I hope other community residents will join with us by purchasing these specialized license plates. They serve as a reminder of our commitment to ensuring the safety of all of our children."

Agencies receiving funding:
- Our Lady's Inn - $5,500 for after care services for new mothers leaving the shelter
- St. Charles County Department of Community Health & the Environment - $4,100 for safety seats for Parenting 101 program
- Youth In Need - $4,000 for Head Start/Early Head Start
- Crider Health Center - $2,500 for wraparound supports
- Crisis Nursery - $2,500 for respite services
- Lutheran Family & Children's Services - $1,500 for teen mom program
- Bridgeway Behavioral Health - $600 for equipment for the Children's Program

St. Charles County is one of 29 license plate partners with the Children's Trust Fund of Missouri and in 2009 was cited as the No. 1 license plate partner in the state based on license plate revenues.

Since the program was initiated in 1998, $196,994 has been granted to area agencies.

Funds are overseen by the Community and Children's Resource Board and are distributed in the form of reimbursable grants to local agencies providing child abuse and neglect prevention services.