Officer's Profile
Did you know that every six minutes a child is sexually abused in our country? This is a frightening statistic, but in our own Rochester community there is help for these children. The Bivona Child Advocacy Center (BCAC), a not-for-profit organization, utilizes a unique approach to helping abused children and their families. The BCAC brings all the necessary services -- social work, legal, medical, and victim advocacy -- to ensure a child's safety and healing, all at one child-friendly, state-of-the-art facility.
I have been involved with the Bivona Child Advocacy Center for almost four years. In the spring of 2004, they had just recently organized into their own not-for-profit agency and had signed a service agreement with PAETEC for voice and Internet services. The Director of the BCAC, Mary Whittier, was forming a Board of Directors and expressed interest to her account manager, Mark Demeo, in having someone from PAETEC join the Board. Mark thought I'd be a good fit and asked me to meet with Mary. Once we met, I was excited to be a part of it. They had a wonderful cause, a strong sense of purpose, and were a start-up organization. Having just been through the start up of PAETEC for the past five years, I thought I could help.
Creating structure and doing fundraising were the early focus of our efforts. We have established three primary fundraisers to augment grants and state aid. The fundraisers include a golf tournament, a wine tasting reception, and a gala dinner/auction. In addition to serving on the Board, I have served on the golf committee, chaired the wine tasting event, and am currently Chairman of the Development Committee. I am glad to help children in need and I am grateful for PAETEC's support in helping this organization through both participation and sponsorship for some of these events over the past four years.
The BCAC has seen over 750 children this year in Rochester. The number will top 1,000 by year end. To learn more about the BCAC or to find out how you can get involved, please visit www.bivonacac.org or call 585.935.7800 today.