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The New York Yankees and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Christopher Meloni teamed up with Montefiore's JE and ZB Butler Child Advocacy Center to help raise money and bring awareness to the troubling issues of medically neglected and physically and sexually abused children.
The Center is the only fully accredited medical model child advocacy center in the New York metropolitan area, providing medical and psychosocial evaluations for children who are victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse and/or neglect. It also evaluates children who are at risk for abuse and need comprehensive exams.
The Center is a vital component of the Montefiore Child Health Network, a broad-reaching, coordinated system of programs and resources focused on the needs of children in the Bronx and nearby Westchester.
The Yankees honored the Center's work during a pre-game ceremony on the field of Yankee Stadium before the Bronx Bombers played against the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees organization also donated 2,500 game tickets to the Center and gave some tickets to area children and their families. Other tickets were sold to benefit the essential services provided by the Center.
"We are so appreciative of what the Yankees have done for us, particularly because the services we offer are free of charge," said Karel Amaranth, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center.
"Being out on the field, in the public eye, the Yankees have helped enormously in our efforts to raise awareness about our services and child abuse. And they have helped raise a lot of the money we need to run the Center. Our operating costs are about $2 million a year.
"We want every child to be safe and all kids to enjoy their childhood."
Christopher Meloni also attended the pre-game ceremony. In his leading role on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Meloni plays a law enforcement officer whose cases include crimes of child abuse and neglect.
"Those who come to the aid of a child who is the victim of a crime are the true heroes," Meloni said. "These are the people at Montefiore and Butler Child Advocacy Center who dedicate themselves, not just physically but emotionally, to repair the people who have been victimized by abuse. It is my pleasure to be here to help."
Joining the Yankees and Meloni in the pre-game ceremony were Spencer Foreman, MD, president, Montefiore Medical Center; Joe Bartlett, co-chair of The Children's Hospital at Montefiore; Bruce Doniger, president of The JE & ZB Butler Foundation; Dr. Peter Semczuk, DDS, MPH, vice president, Clinical Services, Montefiore Medical Center and Karel Amaranth, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center.
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