Family-Focused FUN

Established 14 years ago by Abigail Wexner, the event – highlighted by family fun, a renowned equestrian event and national performing acts – is designed to financially and publicly support the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence, which recently merged with the Center for Child and Family Advocacy to create the Family Violence Coalition.

As of today, Wexner and the Family Violence Coalition, led by President Karen Days, have raised more than $16 million to help local families touched by domestic violence. The event is privately underwritten, so 100 percent of the proceeds benefit the Family Violence Coalition.

“This is not just about an equestrian event,” says Wexner. “We really wanted to make this an event that speaks to what we hope for as a community, and part of that is healthy families.”

This year’s Classic and Family Day is slated for Sunday, Sept. 25 at the Wexner home on Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road. Gates open at 10 a.m.

Wexner conceived the event as a way to bring two of her passions together.

“I was trying to think of a unique fundraiser for the community that hadn’t been done before, and I also was trying to figure out if there was a way to put this love of horses and jumping competitions to good use,” she says. “There are a lot of competitions around the country, and some of them have charitable components, but none of them are singly dedicated.”

New Albany has been nothing but welcoming and supportive of the daylong event, Wexner says.

“Part of the culture of the community has been giving and very caring,” she says. “Whatever it is – supporting the New Albany Community Foundation or the Homeless Families Foundation or other real needs in the community – it’s really important for the (New Albany) community to feel like it has an active way to participate. … It speaks volumes for the culture of the community when you can get that kind of support.”

Days, who has been with the Coalition since 1999, says her favorite part of the Classic Invitational and Family Day is seeing the children’s faces.

“Around the second year (of the Classic), we started giving blocks of tickets to after-school organizations like Directions for Youth and Families and a lot of the settlement houses, (so they could) see the horses and places they’ve never seen before,” Days says. “It’s rural to inner-city kids. They think they have to travel out of their state to see that, and it’s right here, right in their back yard. It makes me proud to be associated with an organization that shows inner-city kids this. It’s awesome.”

In addition to providing area children with new, wholesome experiences, including a major concert and a professional horse-jumping competition, the event allows the new Family Violence Coalition to expand its offerings to the central Ohio community, Days says.

“We are so fortunate that all the proceeds come to the organization,” she says. “Civil assistance is very expensive. … Typically, when something happens in a civil situation around legal issues, the perpetrators will use the children to keep the victim in the home. So if the victim wants to get a divorce and get away, the minimum amount is $2,500.”

The average 6-room house collects 40 pounds of dust each year, and about 40,000 dust mites can ‘thrive’ in only one ounce of dust. Dust can also contain unhealthful bacteria, fungi and mold.

Breathe easier with an air duct cleaning from Stanley Steemer®. We offer a complete cleaning of your ventilation system by certified professionals with up-front pricing and no hidden costs.

Plus, the company that America has trusted for over 60 years can take care of your business too! Call today for a free commercial estimate.

614-875-7500

Offer for Residential only. Call for details. Pricing is valid for one furnace. Increased charges apply for each additional furnace.

Nickelodeon’s hit TV series personalities Big Time Rush will headline this year’s New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix and Family Day.

Big Time Rush has completed its second season on Nickelodeon and is in the process of working on season three. The Tween Brands Concert at the Classic is presented by Justice.

Most victims cannot afford that, Days says, so the Family Violence Coalition provides free legal services through its law school program to help the victim leave the home.

“If there is no free legal service to do so, at some point, that victim will have returned to the home or just given up,” she says. “A lot of those dollars have gone to making sure we can keep that mom with the kids and also provide the assistance necessary to go forward.”

Money raised from the Classic and Family Day also goes towards awareness.

One of the more difficult misconceptions about family violence is that it only affects poor people, uneducated people or people of certain races, Wexner says.

“We know all too well that this is really an issue that doesn’t discriminate,” she says. “It affects all income levels, all religions, all ethnicities. It’s easier, in a way, to think of it as an uneducated, poor people’s issue. We’ve had lots of people tell us that, but the facts just don’t. … I think having 15,000 people come out once a year to celebrate what healthy families are is also reinforcing the message.”

Gail Martineau is editor. Feedback and comments welcome at editor@healthynewalbany.org.