Donations

Tax Deductible Donations to the Friends of the

Children's Justice Center of Kauai

Every tax-deductible donation to the Friends helps children who have been abused and neglected by assuring that we can continue to respond to their needs. Your contributions make it possible for us to truly support these children, because we really believe that “it shouldn't hurt to be a child.” The Friends of the Children's Justice Center of Kauai receives no funding from any governmental agency. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, we will provide you with a receipt for your donation that you can use for your tax records.

How to make a donation

•  Click on the “donate now” button and make a donation with your credit card. This is a safe, private service of the non-profit JustGive site.

OR

•  Mail your donation to

FCJC-Kauai

4473 Pahe`e Street, Suite “M”

Lihue , HI 96766

Creating a “Safety Net” for Children

As they grow up, most children have many opportunities to develop trust in others and self-respect for their own capabilities. However, when a child has been sexually or physically abused, or severely neglected, his or her emotional and intellectual ability to learn appropriate skills and feel optimistic about the near and distant future may become severely impaired. Recent research with incarcerated felons indicates that more than 60% of them were abused as children, and the supposition is that their early experiences disturbed their normal development to the extent that they no longer made positive choices for themselves.

There is a system "safety net" in place that works to protect and guide abused children. It includes investigative police officers and case workers with Child Protective Services, family support workers and therapists in the schools, volunteer guardians ad litem appointed by the courts, and a variety of professionals who work with children as mentors, coaches or counselors at the YWCA, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Kahuna Valley’s Peaceful Solutions, community centers, in mental health programs and organized sports.

Funds are available through government programs, both state and federal, and from private foundations. There is often some community investment by involved businesses and individuals to provide these direct services to abused children. The monies make it possible to hire people to provide guidance and direction for the children, to create a safety net for those who are too young and who, alone, are powerless to change the direction of their lives.

The work of the Friends of the Children’s Justice Center of Kauai is deeply woven into this safety net. We fill a niche that no other agency or organization does. Between its founding by concerned citizens in 1991 and up through 2003, the FCJC of Kauai focused on distributing P.I.N. (Persons in Need) moneys provided for foster and abused children by two family foundations. Operating on the premise that children whose lives have been severely disrupted by violence and abuse have fewer opportunities to experience a "normal" childhood, the Friends became the agency for other service providers to approach for funding for what were termed "enhancements" for individual children. In this way, when no other resources were available to them, children were able to access funds for essentials like food, clothing and health care.

But above and beyond those basic needs, the Friends has been able to provide opportunities for children to participate in many of the usual activities most kids take for granted, but which would otherwise not be available to them. Activities such as sports and recreational events (which teach teamwork, cooperation, communication and physical coordination), as well as participation in music and other arts (which allow children to develop their own, unique talents and abilities and to explore their creativity).

In addition, the Friends has been instrumental in helping children get orthodontic services that improved their physical health as well as their sense of self-esteem. Many children, born and raised on our remote island, have been given the opportunity to travel to other islands or to the Mainland to participate in family, school or sports activities, and this helps them see the world in a broader perspective.