Boys & Girls Clubs of West Central Missouri

Boys & Girls Club Offers Safety Town to Educate All Local Youth

According to usa.safekids.org, “Each year, one out of every four children sustains an injury serious enough to require medical attention.”

In an attempt to raise awareness and educate the community about the importance of day-to-day safety, the Boys & Girls Club created Safety Town - a mock town designed to show children how to make smart decisions in a variety of situations.

On July 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. the Boys & Girls Clubs of West Central Missouri hosted a “Safety Town” event and had a wonderful turnout of over 100 youth!

The town was built outside the Parkview Elementary School in order to introduce youth to safety on sidewalks and roadways, in the community and in their homes.

The Club’s teen summer program members worked tirelessly to create large display models of recognizable businesses and buildings throughout Sedalia so that the youth walking or biking through Safety Town could get the feeling they were really navigating through the streets of Sedalia.

Local businesses such as Bothwell Lodge, ProEnergy, McDonald’s, Inter-State Studio, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, the Pettis County Courthouse, and many more, were built out of large pieces of cardboard and were on display at the Safety Town event.

The idea for Safety Town came from former Sedalia Police Commander and the Club’s current CSI Module Coordinator, Cendy Harrell-Carson.

“A lot of kids suffer avoidable injuries and Safety Town is designed to educate young people about the safety on the roadway, helmet safety, in-home safety, fire prevention and emergency situation awareness,” said Harrell-Carson. “As a Police Officer for 25 years, I saw a lot of kids seriously hurt and killed because they weren’t paying attention to road signs while on a bicycle.”

Local emergency personnel from the Sedalia Police and Fire Departments as well as the Ambulance Service and Air Evac were on hand to answer questions and to help youth plot their way through the Safety Town course. Representatives from CitiGroup were also on hand to present certificates to those completing the safety course. CitiGroup provides funding to the Club in support of financial education curriculum.

Along with the Safety Town course, there were fun carnival games, a cake walk, face painting, refreshments and prizes as part of the event.