Walk in THEIR Shoes 5k

Survivors

One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of eighteen.  Every two minutes someone in the United States is raped. That means that we all know someone who has been or will be sexually assaulted.  Terrifying.  Even more terrifying to me, after learning these statistics, is that I can recall fewer than 5 conversations with friends about sexual abuse or assault.  Not conversations about the fact that it exists.  I'm talking about conversations with people that were assaulted or abused.  In other words, this means no one is talking about something that is definitely happening.  I don't want this post to turn into some kind of political statement but I found this statistic personally alarming...and terrifying.  


A few years back, my husband was asked to be on the board of a local nonprofit.  At that time, it was called the Rape and Sexual Abuse Center (RASAC for short). He agreed.  I don't think he had a real idea at the time that the organization was the only place in Middle Tennessee that specializes in the treatment for sexual assault survivors.  Since that time, they have changed their name to the Nashville Sexual Assault Center.  The organization has been in existence since 1978 and provides 8,000 therapy sessions per year in addition to educating over 40,000 elementary-aged students per year in Tennessee about personal boundaries and assertivenes skills in a program called Safe@Last.  Recently, they also launched a program called Stewards of Children, designed to educate adults throughout the community on how to keep children safe.  Amazing that they can accomplish all this as a nonprofit organization, relying mostly on donations, fundraisers, and corporate gifts.

When they contacted me about bringing the bus to their annual 5k, Walk in THEIR Shoes, I was totally onboard.  What a great place for a happy, love bus to spend the day.  We loaded the bus up with water, juice boxes and candy for the kiddos, and a giant batch of love bus cookies.  The day turned out to be a bright, sun-filled, spring day in Tennessee, with near perfect conditions.  What a blessing to this celebration of survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Along with the bus and the snacks, I took along some swag from EO Products new Love Everybody line.  Natural, plant based hand sanitizer with essential oils and scents like peppermint citrus and coconut lemon; love everybody buttons; dog tag necklaces; and hair bands.  What a fabulous place for their Love Everybody message.  A celebration of survivors.  I also used it as an opportunity to tell people all about the bus.

Throughtout the day we had several hundred people in and on and around the bus. Kids, adults, babies, and even dogs. The Big Love Bus was even used as the backdrop for the photobooth! See Exhibit A and B, below!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

We got a lot of great feedback on the bus.  Everyone wanted to know what we were all about.  Premier transportation! A lot of folks had great ideas about the things that they would do and where they would go with the bus.

Graduation party came up more than once, bachelorette party, Christmas light tour, tailgating, and sightseeing were all mentioned.  We even had a sign up to win a free hour on the Big Love Bus opportunity.  Hopefully we will be able to tell you all about that party soon!

In the meantime, we were honored to #spreadthelove to a such a hardworking group of people who provide such a valuable service in our community.   

Jessica with Tim Tohill, NashvilleSAC President

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual abuse or assault, call the Nashville Sexual Assault Center Crisis Hotline at 1-800-879-1999.