HOULTON, Maine — October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. Hope and Justice Project will be holding its second Annual Chalk It Up Event on Wednesday Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. The event will be held at the Cary Library in Houlton.
Chief Deputy Darrell Crandall will be the guest speaker that evening. Attendees will show their dedication to creating a community free of violence by being there and tracing their hand onto black construction paper with chalk. The hand will represent a promise to keep their hands gentle.
Prior to the vigil, Leslie Gervais a prevention educator from the Hope and Justice Project will do several readings from “I Call My Hand Gentle.”
Children from Houlton and Hodgdon schools will participate along with the Cary Library’s After-school Program. Students from the Carlton Project will also show their support. Many of the handprints will be displayed throughout town beginning with the lobby in the library and ending at the UMPI Outreach Center. These efforts portray a unique commitment to “Draw an End to Violence.”
For those community members who wish to display the handprints in their storefront window please contact Hope and Justice Project at 532-4004 and they will make arrangements to fulfill all requests.
“Please join this effort to make our town a gentle place to live,” Gervais said. “Violence can surface anywhere and can happen to anyone. It has many faces. Acts of bullying, cyber bullying, dating and domestic violence to name a few are happening daily worldwide. It is important that we all learn to recognize it, reject it and respond to it. Together we can do just that and become successful in creating a society that is violence-free.”
