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Free hotdogs and resources

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The Webster County Victim Assistance Program is designed to help people who have been victims of any kind of violent crime. Whether it’s victims of DWI, gun crimes, domestic disputes, etc, WCVAP’s main focus is on domestic violence and sexual violence.

On Thursday, Oct. 21, the program offered a free lunch for community members to raise awareness for domestic violence. The two-hour event offered a hotdog bag lunch as well as information about what WCVAP does.

“We had this event for domestic violence awareness since October is domestic violence awareness month. We want people to come, have lunch and see what our organization does, as well as how they can get involved,” said Director of the Webster County Victim Assistance Program Donna Burks. “We find that at events like this, people feel more free to come up and talk to us, they’re not having to come into the office and there’s not as much pressure. If people don’t want their abuser to know they’re talking to us, this can be the perfect time to do things like that.”

Generally, anyone who walks into the office with a need is able to be connected with direct help or a resource to help. According to Burks, whether it’s food, clothing, shelter, hygiene items, or transportation, WCVAP does what it’s able to help find solutions to immediate crisis.

“We do pretty much anything we can. We go to court with them, attend doctor visits, meeting people at the hospital or police station and if we can’t help them, we find someone who we think can,” she explained.

The WCVAP is an excellent place to go for resources, if nothing else. The program is able to help with protection orders; walking people through the process, how it works and what they need to do.

“We try to open ourselves up as much as we can to the community and do a lot of things throughout the year to boost awareness of our program,” Burks added. “Of course, with COVID we haven’t been able to do very much at all but it’s so good to be back out in the community offering events like this.”

For more on the Webster County Victim Assistance Program, visit www.wcvap.org or call their 24-hour crisis hot line at (417) 859-7129 or toll free at (888) 453-5554.

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