The Joyful Child Foundation was established in 2002 by the Runnion family after the sexual assault and murder of five-year-old Samantha Runnion in 2002. Its first initiative was "Samantha's Pride" which aims to facilitate the establishment of child watch programs in communities across the US. As at the end of 2004, 51 programs had been established concentrated in the Orange County, California area of southern California. The California Conservatory of the Arts sponsored a group called the Kids Next Door who recorded a fundraising Christmas album at the end of 2004 with funds going to the Joyful Child Foundation.
In addition to funding the "Samantha's Pride" initiative, the Joyful Child Foundation will use donations to
- fund children's creative writing and artistic programs; and
- fund nonprofit organisations that seek to prevent child abuse and abduction; and
- research into predator behaviour and recidivism.
Famous quotes containing the words joyful, child and/or foundation:
“Joy is prayer—Joy is strength—Joy is love—Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. God loves a cheerful giver. She gives most who gives with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of the Christ risen.”
—Mother Teresa (b. 1910)
“If your child is going to develop a healthy personality with the capacity to remain intact and grow, she must learn how to test reality, regulate her impulses, stabilize her moods, integrate her feelings and actions, focus her concentration and plan.”
—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)
“Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)