Care-free and Full of Promise.

Hello!

Ever since I began this job over nine years ago I have constantly asked myself "what can I do to help every child have a great childhood like mine?"

I think about this when I'm in the office, speaking to groups across the nation, doing interviews and even when I'm out taking a walk.

It brings a smile to my face when I see children who are care-free and full of promise. It reminds me about how great it is to live in our nation. It also reminds me that our nation must continue to care about the healthy emotional, social and physical development of every child, because our children are our future.

With school starting in a few weeks, we can all remind ourselves that children are there to learn more than mathematics and literature; they are also learning to manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions.

Let's ask ourselves: "What can I do to ensure that?"

A recent study reported bullying, or peer-to-peer abuse, among students age 12-18 dropped to 22% after remaining fixed at 28% for the past 8 years. This is amazing news! Though we have our work cut out for us in order to decrease this number even further, we should feel confident that we are making strides in our efforts to incorporate social emotional learning in all areas of the school system and to engage the broader community.

Together we can make all of this possible. By giving a gift today, you will help programs such as peer-to-peer abuse (bullying) prevention efforts and Healthy Families America, which serves more than 85,000 families each year by focusing on developing these skills and attitudes by nurturing positive parent-child bonds and supporting parents' effort to provide the foundation for healthy child development.

Sincerely,

James M. Hmurovich
President & CEO