Children of the Street

Coquitlam, BC – Children of the Street Society is the proud recipient of the 2010 British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) Humanitarian Award.  The award was presented at the 63^rd Annual BCAB Conference on Friday May 7, 2010 in Victoria, B.C.  Executive Director, Diane Sowden and Stephanie Owen, Program Manager attended on behalf of the Society to accept the award. 

Established in 1980, the Humanitarian Award is presented annually and provides charitable organizations in BC with a distribution network to communicate their message.  The British Columbia Association of Broadcasters recognizes the need to relay information that has a positive impact on all British Columbians and as such, offers significant television and radio airtime free of charge to one or two organizations every year.   

"Every year we get numerous applications for the BCAB Humanitarian Award.  It is always a tough decision, but we were very impressed with the submission from Children of the Street,” said Brad Phillips, President of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters.  “We knew that with the airtime support we could deliver to Predator Watch - the impact would be immediate." 

As the recipient of the 2010 Humanitarian Award, Children of the Street Society will receive a multi-million dollar gifted media placement on television and radio stations across British Columbia for 52 weeks, beginning in July 2010.  Children of the Street Society has been working in partnership with Rethink Communications, an award winning advertising agency, to develop an awareness campaign called PredatorWatch.  PredatorWatch, a multi-media campaign aimed at stopping child predators from soliciting children online, features television, radio, print ads, and includes a web component. 

“We consider ourselves lucky for this chance to help such a worthy cause,” said Rob Tarry, a Creative Director at Rethink and writer on the project, “And with this award we’re doubly lucky — it will make a huge difference in tackling this disturbing issue.” 

“We are grateful to the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters for this award,” said Diane Sowden, Executive Director of Children of the Street Society.  “This award will provide a level of public awareness which we could only have dreamed of.  We are honored to have been selected as the recipient of the Humanitarian Award and are ecstatic to know our message will reach millions across the province of British Columbia.  Thank you to the BCAB for making this a reality.”  

“Our main objective is to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and youth,” said Sowden.  “It’s become very apparent over the past few years that the Internet is often the place where these problems originate – Predator Watch is our answer.” 

For more information visit www.PredatorWatch.ca . 

About Children of the Street Society:

Children of the Street Society is a Provincial Society and Federal Charity comprised of community members who are concerned about the number of children and youth who are sexually exploited.  Our mission is to take a proactive approach through public awareness, education and early intervention strategies to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and youth, while offering support to families.  Our vision is a world where children and youth are safe and free from all forms of sexual exploitation. 

About Predator Watch:

PredatorWatch is a multi-media campaign aimed at stopping predators from soliciting children and youth online.   The initiative is supported by the BC Association of Chiefs of Police, and by the Ministries of Public Safety and Solicitor General and Children and Family Development.