BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Over the past two years Bank of the Sierra, through its Sierra Grant Program, has contributed a generous $8,000 to Children’s Hospital Central California located in Madera and serving all the Children of the San Joaquin Valley.

The grant money has been donated to the Hospital through the Las Madrinas Guild, a group of local women who have been working to support the hospital since 1950. The Guilds have become the largest financial contributor to the Hospital and are celebrating their 60th anniversary.

This $8,000 will benefit the Guild pledge to raise $1 million towards the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Endowment.

This Endowment will support the Child Advocacy Center at Children’s Hospital including a medical clinic, the SCAN (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect) Team that has been in place since 1999, and community outreach and education.

The problem is large. On any given day, three to five percent of Children’s inpatient population are here because of abuse or neglect.

From 2004 to 2006, 34 percent of children under the age of one entering the trauma program were non-accidental traumas.

Another 30 percent were listed as falls, many of which were suspected as abuse or neglect.

The Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Endowment will provide permanent support for the creation of a fully-accredited Child Advocacy Center.

The Center provides a comprehensive, child-focused coordination service for law enforcement, child protection professionals, prosecutors, victim advocates, and mental health and medical communities to work together when intervening in child abuse cases.

Abused children are one of the most victimized and vulnerable segments of our society, and a segment that never has a voice of its own.

If you would like to help the Guilds fulfill their $1 million pledge towards the Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Endowment, please contact the Guilds Office at 559-353-7145 or TFierro@childrenscentralcal.org. When you donate through the Guilds, 100% of your donation directly benefits this endowment.

Information Provided By Jery Roberts with the Children's Hospital Of Central California