Countywide : Walk-a-Thon to Aid Crime Victims
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Ventura County residents interested in helping raise money for crime victims can participate in a walk-a-thon Thursday at the County Government Center, one of the highlights of National Victims’ Rights Week.
At noon Thursday at the Government Center’s central fountain plaza, just before the 12:15 p.m. walk, a minister will give a benediction to homicide victims in Ventura County.
The county’s homicide rate has doubled in the past year, said Kathleen McGoldrick, county victim services director.
In 1991, 48 homicides were recorded countywide, compared with 20 in 1990, according to county law enforcement officials.
Money raised in the third annual walk-a-thon, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the victims’ rights movement, will go into the Crime Victims Emergency Fund. Organizers hope to raise $5,000.
“Many people, unless they have been victimized, do not realize the emotional, physical and financial toll it takes on people,” McGoldrick said. “We need to be compassionate to crime victims.”
Those eligible to receive money from the fund would be a rape victim, for instance, who was assaulted in her home and needs temporary shelter, or an elderly person whose eyeglasses were broken during an assault, McGoldrick said.
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