April is for the children at Fort Novosel

FORT NOVOSEL, Ala.-- The Fort Novosel Garrison Commander, Col. John Miller, and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Williams reaffirmed the post’s commitment to preventing child abuse during Month of the Military Child as they signed the Child Abuse Prevention Month Proclamation on April 2 at Ellis D. Parker Elementary School.

Joy McCormick, Family Advocacy Program Manager, read the proclamation to an amphitheater of students and parents after an opening by the school choir.

“Child abuse and neglect is never okay,” she read. “Anytime an Army family suffers from abuse, we fall short of our goals for readiness. Children are the future of our nation. It is our job to assure they grow up with a strong support system. Our MilKids are priority one.”

McCormick continued reading the proclamation to the crowd before calling Miller to the podium.

“These children are our future,” Miller said. “It is our job, as the people that have gone before them, to help stamp out the completely unacceptable negative effects of child abuse. I take it very seriously to make sure that we have the best possible community, here on Fort Novosel, and in the Wiregrass area as well.”

Miller reminded the audience of the resources available on the installation. “I hope that if you see someone in need, that you take the opportunity to use those resources. It is our responsibility to make sure people get the help that they need.”

After signing the proclamation, grade level awards were given to students for the Month of the Military Child art contest.

“We had over 80 submissions for the contest which really blew us away,” said McCormick. “Anonymous voting took place in building 5700 and I don’t know how anyone could choose! The theme was ‘What does it mean to be a Military Child?’ and every entry was just beautiful. So many of these just brought tears to our eyes, fantastic job by everyone.”

The Directorate of Family, and Morale, Welfare and Recreation is hosting events throughout the month to help raise awareness on child abuse prevention. For more information, visit Fort Novosel MWR on Facebook, visit novosel.army.mwr, or call the Family Advocacy Program at 255-3898 or the New Parent Support Program at 255-9647.

For more photos from the event check out our FLICKR link https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBjRQN