Youth given a Fighting Chance

Staff Reports

The Fighting Chance program abduction prevention program was presented to about 1,000 fifth- and sixth-graders in Douglas County elementary schools in the last school year and was made possible by Soroptimist International in coordination with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Instructors were officers Chris Griffith and Theresa Duffy.

The youth who went through the program learned how to avoid abduction and were given information to take home to share with their families.

The Fighting Chance program was created as the result of the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard from a bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, and each training session uses that story as an example of what can happen to a child even close to home.

There was a recent success story where a girl saved herself from abduction because of the techniques she learned in the Fighting Chance program.

"The Fighting Chance program is a lifesaving program because it stimulates awareness in our children to look out for the potential of abduction and empowers them to help save themselves. We hope to be training and saving children for a good many years to come," said Deborah Williams, Soroptimist Fighting Chance chairwoman.