Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Monday April 7th 2025. Have your host James here
and we're joined right now by our great friend Amy Shide, administrative development volunteer
coordinator with our Wisconsin Rapids Family Center. Amy, thank you so much for being here.
Always good to see you. Well, thanks for having me James. It's always great to see you as well.
We're going to take some time to talk about April being child abuse prevention month. We will
talk a little bit about volunteer appreciation month. Some of the events coming up at the area
and ways that people can impact and help our Wisconsin Rapids Family Center. Before we get to
some of that, if you don't mind rewinding with me for a moment, Amy, wanted to touch on and wrap up
chest for change. A wonderful event that we are so happy to be able to bring back at the Wisconsin
Rapids Family Center. We enjoyed ourselves very much. It was a lovely evening, very well attended.
I think that our patrons had an excellent time. We had many volunteers and just a fabulous evening
of fun food and further information about the importance of the work being done at Wisconsin
Rapids Family Center. I real quickly want to see a shout out to everybody involved. I certainly
all the businesses, all the sponsors, everybody that donated the volunteers. And I do want to send
a big shout out to Joel Goodness as well. Joel, I make no bones about it. He's one of my favorite
people, one of my favorite people I've worked with. But I also, we don't have, that's not an everyday
talent. Joel is incredibly good at what he does. And to have that skill set and that talent to be
a part of this event, greatly appreciate and more so of. And it's really where we're leaning with
all this. Now, just before we get to into talking about current events and everything, the event
itself went well and we're hoping to do it again, you know, so something to keep in mind to the
audience out there for next year. Absolutely. Given the climate of funding federally
for nonprofits such as our own, we are having to take things into our own hands and do some additional
fundraising in our community. And I think that Wisconsin Rapids Family Center does an excellent job
of that, both through reaching out to the community for those precious donations, but also adding
to the events that they coordinate so that we can involve a little fun in our fundraising.
Well done. Well, you're so good at this, Amy. And to that point that Amy was touching on there.
Now, this is a topic that we are, whether on a morning show or midday magazine, community stories
of Melissa, we've touched on this topic before about the cuts to funding for our domestic
violent shelters. Certainly here in Wisconsin Rapids, but in Wisconsin, in the whole country,
they've been affected by this. There is an important article I think at WPR, I encourage you to
check out about federal funding cuts, causing some Wisconsin nonprofits, putting them in a
harder situation than they've ever been in in many ways. And that's really saying something that
job is always difficult. And there's a lot of difficulties already on top of it, even with the
funding that we had before these cuts, a little alone with these cuts. So to the point of what Amy
saying, the funding and what they're cutting with these programs or what's having be cut with these
programs for these programs is incredibly vital to the layers of this topic. And whether we're
talking about one end of it or another, we're seeing an effect here. So it's so much more important
to, I think you can make the argument, Amy, more than ever to be on this. Now, I think that some
people, and I've even talked to some people about this when it comes to this topic, we've gotten
to a better place with it. There's no denying that there is a lot of trailblazers and a lot of people
from many, many, many decades that paved the way for us to get to this point where you and I are
having this conversation and we're not talking like this. I agree. And not just now, but I mean in
public, when you and I have run into each other or you and other people that and me and other people,
we've all been able to talk about this topic. And when we're at a department store or wherever we are,
and we don't have to be in a hushed voice anymore, I would agree that we have more of an
opportunity to talk about the work that's being done in the advocacy that the Wisconsin
Rapid Family Center offers than ever before. However, these cuts are coming at a time when we're
seeing record increases year after year in incidents of domestic violence, sexual assault and human
trafficking. So it's just so important that we keep talking and that we keep supporting.
I think that is important, but almost equally important is certainly appreciating where we've come
and how far we've come, because nothing we can't go forward if we don't do that. We do a
disservice to the people that paved the way for us to get here, but Amy is so right. We need to
keep our foot on the gas. We need this is not the time to be lightening up or anything, especially
when we have momentum on our side, when we have years of momentum building up to this and everything
and getting us to this point. And certainly noteworthy with it's never been maybe more important,
because of some of this stuff we're seeing whether it was after the pandemic or any of the other
numbers or stats that we saw. So now more than ever, we need all hands on deck and we could really
use you to be a part of things at the Wisconsin Rapid Family Center. We want to talk about that now
with you a little bit Amy and about volunteering and it is volunteer appreciation month.
It is indeed. How about that? Just look right in the place. Absolutely. So I'd like to take that
opportunity to first say thank you to one of our key volunteers, Mr. James here right here with me.
There are multiple ways in which you can volunteer, but one of them is board service. And James is
a long serving board member of Wisconsin Rapid Family Center for which we are eternally grateful.
So that is one way of many in which you can volunteer for the organization.
Yeah. The events that we just spoke about, the chefs for change event, as well as we're going into
summer of fun at Wisconsin Rapid Family Center involving our drive against violence on August,
help me out James 18. August drive against, I had the other one up.
I'm going out of order. That's okay. The first annual drive for change is August 18th.
Yes. And then there's Tuesday, August 18th. And then we also have our touch of truck event,
which is always the last Saturday in July. Yeah. And July 26th. July 26th. You got this.
And now both events are different, but a lot of fun. And both of them, while they might be a
little bit different here or there or anything, they are all about for all lead to the same cause
and the same actions that we're trying to do. And you heard us talk about the cuts and the
funding and everything. This is to try to counter that and to keep these programs alive and well,
along with maybe even being able to do more at the Wisconsin Rapid Family Center and most of our
places around here. That would be amazing. The opportunity to expand services is something that we
always dream lovingly about. Both of those events are opportunities for which you can either sponsor,
volunteer, or attend and support. And there are various ways in which you can support either of
those events in addition to sponsorship or volunteering. Just by being there, learning more about
the work that's being done, modeling good behavior and having your young people around you
participate in this event, showing your co-workers that you believe in the mission of Wisconsin
Rapid Family Center by spending the day on the golf course. That's pretty hard. Yeah, yeah.
And we know how much this community, it really is difficult for them to get out on that golf course.
It's so tough. I love the approach to this. And it's an approach that the Family Center has always
had of how do you get a message across? Most people in life are not going to listen if you talk
down to them or you yell at them or you badger at them. And almost regardless of tone and so much
of that does come down to that. But if you can give people an opportunity to, hey, here's this event
and it's fun and it's going to you're going to see people in the community maybe haven't seen
in a while. There's plenty of fellowship and a lot of that. And along with that, we're also going to
pass along some information to you. We're also going to let you know what this event is is about
and everything. Honestly, this is something that we hear at WFHR take very strongly on almost any
serious topic you can think of looking for ways to be able to talk about stuff without badgering
anybody without you know, cramming it down your throat or any of these other things. Nobody
really retains information that way. Yes, true. But if we can talk to you on a local level,
on a personal level about these things and let you know how it literally affects your personal
life along with your neighbors or your coworkers or friends or family or anything, that incorporates
that brings in more people. And I appreciate that the Family Center has got that from the very
beginning in part because you guys kind of had to in order to be able to you know, keep this whole
thing going and stuff. But it's also something that doesn't come naturally and it takes work to do.
So I appreciate that. I appreciate the approach to this and the term fun summer that we're looking
forward to here. And these are really fun events. It's such a great win-win combination of being
able to know that you're putting into your community. You're adding the one of the most vital
important things in our community that need our attention. Well, also having a good time.
Let's talk about the events themselves a little bit and just touch on them a little bit. No pun intended
because we're going to talk about touch-a-truck first. But for those that you know understand what a
touch-a-truck event is, you kind of get the gist of it and everything. But ours is a little bit
unique in the sense of the amount of different community members and you know, businesses that
want to be a part of this one. Absolutely. So touch-a-truck is in its fifth year, I believe. And there
are a bevy of different vehicles that come. We've had everything from a brand new
Tesla right down to one of the oldest vehicles I've ever seen. I'd never seen a battery in the back
of a vehicle. That was super neat. Helicopters, emergency vehicles. There are games there,
food there, fantastic raffle. And in tying that to what we just spoke about, lots of volunteers
necessary to make that event run successfully. So volunteering doesn't necessarily mean,
set hours weekly at Wisconsin Rapids Family Center. You could come and just help us out with that
event. I would love it. That was a good chance of sending to really dive into this, Amy. Because
you and I have talked about this. I've talked about it with Sue, with Deb, with many people at the
Family Center over the years. There are so many people in our community that they care about
this topic. And they want to want to do some good, want to help out. We know that, as Amy and I
have touched on with the cuts to funding, dollars and cents go so far, farther than we could really
put into words. It is so appreciated. We also understand that not everybody has that to be able
to do. And you're still sitting there wondering how you can impact, how you can help. Volunteering,
volunteering and being there, a part of these events, goes so much farther than we could really tell
you. The Family Center has just like a lot of nonprofits out there, has a lot on their plate.
And there's a lot to cover and a lot to do. The more hands on deck, the more we can help them,
focus on other things and not have to worry about some of the other stuff that is going on.
This stuff, everyday stuff that we can handle as citizens, that we can handle as people. Whereas
there's other things that only you guys can really handle and are really only trained for.
I can swing a hammer. I can take tickets. I can check people in. I can do those things.
It may not seem like a whole lot, but my goodness does that do a whole lot for the Family Center
when you're able to volunteer and being a part of these. And keeping in mind, too,
you're going to have a good time doing this as well. There is so many good people to be around
to hang around when it comes to the Family Center, when it comes to these events. When you go to
these events, you're also going to see other like-minded and other businesses and nonprofits
and community leaders at these events, every single one of them. Now, take a touch of
truck for instance, there's still a lot of logistics and a lot of things being planned
and in the works for that right now. But I can guarantee you that there will be community leaders at it.
They're always are. They're always are. And most of the time, don't even have to ask.
They just come because they believe in this cause so much because they're so supportive of this
event. And I want to use that as a chance to touch on one other way. You can impact things
at the Family Center and Amy hit this on the head right away. The dates of these events,
these events themselves, if you can attend them, please do. And please spread the word about these
events. But when it comes to every day you can impact things at the Family Center, every every
minute you really can. Yes. Being an ally and being a supporter. And that doesn't necessarily
mean that you have to walk around with a big billboard or anything like that, telling everybody
your your states and your feelings and all that. But when opportunities in society come up and they
will come up, I bring up examples all the time on the air whenever I have a chance to a lot of my
guy friends out there. When another guy is making a joke, a quote unquote joke about something,
calling him out on it, making sure that that is not the norm, that that is not all right,
that you're not cool with that. There are opportunities in in movie and entertainment and
things to support. There are so many different layers of support you can show. And so important
to do this too when young people are around. These habits, these things are stuff that they in
that they incorporate because they see us doing them. And the more you can be an ally, the more
you cannot do these things and be supportive of it, the better it is for the younger generation.
And the more they pick up on this stuff, nothing I'm saying is originally mine. And it ain't even my
dads or his dads. This is something that's been handed down to the men and my family for a long
time. Going back to the boot, going back to Italy and everything. It's important to my the men
and my family. It's important to my family, the way we carry ourselves, the way we treat our loved
ones the way we treat the women in our life, all of these things. It's something been handed down.
So I know what I'm talking about here. This is not something that I originally, I'm the met,
no, no, the first James came up with this stuff and everything. I'm the fourth. This is something
that's been handed down to us. And it's something that you can hand down to your loved ones.
You can hand down to your children or kids that are friends of your kids or any of the above.
Yes, I think that that is a very important point, James, that that modeling good behavior,
we just this past week had a young lady bring in her grandson with during spring break,
with an in-kind donation of the items that appeared on what we need Wednesday on our Facebook page.
And you can go back and look at that on our Facebook page. She was kind enough and he was
kind enough to let me snap a picture. And we were very proud of that behavior being modeled.
What you choose to do on a Saturday afternoon, it may not, of course the kids are going to love
to go to touch a truck, but maybe just taking a moment when you're leaving and saying that the reason
why you chose that activity was to support an important organization and whatever language is
appropriate for the age of your child. Not only is this volunteer appreciation month, but it's
sexual assault awareness month. It is child abuse prevention month and sadly those are both
instances where we see qualified advocates helping in our community through Wisconsin
Rapids Family Center. So, you know, Amy, this brings up another thing that I wanted to touch on
real quick and to families out there or businesses or nonprofits. While Amy and I have talked about
and talk about this pretty openly and you know, flowing communication. We understand that not
everybody has a playbook for this or a, you know, script for how to talk about these subjects with
their kids or with their loved ones or something. Encourage you to reach out to the Family Center
and they can help you with that. They can help with those things. Yes, our child and family
specialist would be thrilled to speak with you. You'll be seeing little tidbits on the Facebook page
throughout this month with ways in which to talk about child abuse. You'll see ways in which you
can spot it and maybe just watch a little closer. We're also seeing some excellent work being done
by Ashley and Jess in our sexual assault prevention team throughout this month. Those are just fantastic
tips and they posted a really wonderful reading list this last week out there. There's just a lot
being done. I would, this is a good month too. If you haven't yet, like the page, follow the page
and you can learn small things that you can do, ways in which you can expand your knowledge,
ways in which you can volunteer, ways in which you can prevent and support. Those that do
unfortunately encounter that in their life. I'm really glad this came up. I wanted to make sure we
mentioned the Facebook page in part because of Wednesdays and seeing that items list encourage
everybody to check that out every Wednesday. But also keeping in mind that another way you can help
the family center and and and and mobility and it may not seem like the biggest deal but it can
go so far like their page on Facebook, like what they're doing on social media wherever you find them
and share those posts on your page. You never know who might see it that wouldn't have otherwise
and and that person may be interested in the event volunteer at the event boom we got one more
volunteer there. Absolutely and we appreciate those community groups that are sharing
our message as well. In regard to volunteering if I may just have a shameless plug here James,
we are looking for volunteers at all times but currently right now we can always use help in
maintenance James mentioned he can swing a hammer. I might be hitting him up for that a little
pun there. We also are looking for direct service volunteers who are willing to take calls,
answer doors and then refer those clients that are in need to an advocate who can support and
help them in ways in which they're trained to do so. We are looking for event volunteers.
We are looking for donations volunteers. So I guarantee you if you take a moment you have the
ability to help us in some way that you'll find is meaningful to you and helpful to us and that
will go any enormous length to help those of us who advocate for victims to become survivors
to free up time for them to do that valuable work so that the day-to-day things can get done as well.
Well said as always Amy love and appreciate hanging out with you. Thank you so much for the time
people would like to know more if they would like to find out how to volunteer with some of the
events we've talked about or any of the above. How can they find out more of me? Well I am always
available James at info at familyctr.org. On our Facebook page you can find out more information
on the day-to-day. On our website you can find an application for volunteering it's not even a
page along super simple and it gives me an opportunity to know you're interested and reach out to
you to sit down and chat about what might interest you within the organization. All of these events
we spoke about today are out there we're always looking for sponsors for those events and also
like James said just save the date plan to golf plan to come out with your kids so just the most
important thing is taking a moment just to take a look at what we have out there on our socials.
Keep in mind the website where you can find all this information is familyctr.org familyctr.org.
The 24 hour crisis line is available for you 2477-715-421-1511-715-421-1511.
For their business line if you want to reach out to them that way 715-421-1559-421-1559 you
can email them info at familyctr.org and as we mentioned be sure to like their page on social media
especially their Facebook page share what they do on there keep up the date on everything on
there and support local everybody. We appreciate the work being done by our Wisconsin
Service Family Center. Amy see how to the team over there for us and we'll talk again real soon.
That sounds great James I sure will thank you. Again that website familyctr.org keep
that in mind bookmark that page and follow along with what they are doing over there and keep
in mind you can also donate through that website so head on over there familyctr.org. We will
be back with more midday magazine for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM WF HR we are locally grown
radio.
