Child Abuse Prevention Center gets $5,000 surprise

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- What seemed like a routine meeting with a corporate sponsor

turned out to be quite lucrative for the Orange County Child Abuse

Prevention Center on Tuesday.

James Swegle, regional vice chairman of Safeco, a Seattle-based insurance

company, surprised the nonprofit group with a $5,000 check.

Safeco also presented Kathy McCarrell, executive director of the center,

with a Rudy Award for her work as a “special beacon of community light.”

The plaque, featuring Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, honored McCarrell

for her ability to cut through the fog and get the job done.

“This is so cute,” McCarrell said. “In this field, when you’re asking for

money, you always get stuck in the bureaucracy. It can really feel like

fog.”

McCarrell said she will use the money to help fund a teen pregnancy

outreach panel. Teenage mothers and fathers from the area speak at

schools and to teen groups about the difficulty of raising a child.

“Teens really prefer listening to other teens,” she said.

The center also provides at-home parental education to parents, either

referred by child services or who enrolled voluntarily.

While McCarrell said her organization has assisted thousands of families,

she is quick to point out that there are still many more in need of help.

She said there were more than 30,000 reported cases of child abuse last

year.

“That’s 30,000 too many,” she said.