8″ x 10″ oil on canvas, $200 ($50 donated to the Mary Byron Foundation)
8″ x 10″ oil on canvas, $200 ($50 donated to the Mary Byron Foundation)
A handsome and cheerful crowd convened this weekend to support a foundation that battles an incredibly somber issue, domestic violence. On the 13th anniversary of Mary Byron’s murder, the foundation named in her honor celebrated its successes and roused energy for many more.
The Mary Byron Foundation is a public grant-making charity that supports services nationwide addressing domestic violence. This year’s gala event, “Time For A Change,” featured keynote speaker, actress Meredith Baxter. Through Baxter’s moving testimonial of her own battle with domestic abuse, the audience got sense of how close to home this issue is to many people we often assume are immune to its reach. Statistics like 5.3 million women, and 3.2 men being abused by an intimate partner every year bring the severity of the issue to light.
One of the greatest accomplishments of those involved in the foundation was the launch of a system called VINE. The around the clock service quickly informs victims when their offenders are released from custody or scheduled to appear in court via phone, the internet, or email. Appriss is the company responsible for the creation of VINE as well seed funding to help establish the Mary Byron Foundation. Both organizations have successfully intervened and prevented many would-be cases of abuse, or worse.
Such celebratory events must serve as medicine to mend the broken hearts of Mary’s parents (president and vice president of the foundation), who have channeled their energies into making tangible change around the crime that claimed their daughter. Out of tragedy comes triumph.