Harrisburg, U.S.A - In its first year, Direct Energy and The Patriot-News’ 2012 Harrisburg Volunteer Citizen of the Year award is honoring Nancy Chavez of Camp Hill, PA. Chavez founded “Randi’s Race: A 5K Run and Walk for Courage” in honor of her beloved daughter, Randi, who was tragically murdered in 2005 as a result of domestic violence. Chavez, a survivor of domestic violence herself, has since then devoted her life to raising money, creating awareness and speaking on behalf of victims of domestic violence.

Since its inception, Randi’s Race has raised over $245,000 for Domestic Violence Services in Cumberland and Perry Counties. All proceeds go to providing counseling, emergency shelters, and legal advocacy and outreach programs for domestic violence victims.

Most recently, some of those proceeds have helped to fundraise for Chavez’s newest endeavor: Randi’s House of Angels. Chavez created Randi’s House of Angels in 2011 not only to help cope with her own healing, but to provide a healing place for others that are victims of or exposed to domestic violence. Randi’s House of Angels offers support, therapy and counseling to victims.

In February of 2007, Chavez formed a group called “Restoring Our Souls” (ROS), a support group for mothers and other family members that have lost a loved one to domestic violence. ROS is the first group of its kind in Harrisburg and Chavez uses her own personal experience to help others cope with their loss.

Continuing her crusade against domestic violence, she also established Randi’s Camp for Hope, an organization specifically for children that are affected by domestic violence in their homes. Through educational, interpersonal and fun activities, children engage in activities designed to increase their self-esteem, self-concept and confidence in their own abilities. Randi’s Camp of Hope empowers children to believe that their thoughts, feelings and actions are important, worthy of expression and that they are valuable contributors to the whole family unit.

By winning the Harrisburg Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award, Nancy will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a $5,000 donation to Randi’s House of Angels. The donation will be used to hire licensed therapists that specialize in working with children who are victims of domestic violence or have had a family member murdered as a result of domestic violence. Additionally, for adult victims, attorneys will be hired to provide legal representation in custody and divorce hearings.

“Nancy has been through a horrific tragedy that no parent should ever have to face. Her perseverance to overcome and honor her daughter’s memory and help her community is truly remarkable,” said Cory Byzewski, Vice President and General Manager for Direct Energy US North Residential.

Lee Carlson, General Manager for the Patriot-News said, “We received a lot of outstanding nominations and they were all very admirable but Nancy’s story about how she is using her heartbreak to help others is nothing short of amazing. We are honored to be able to help her in her campaign to end domestic violence.”

A special event honoring Nancy Chavez will be held at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building Rotunda on Monday, June 4, 2012.

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Rick Perry’s decision to mandate HPV vaccines for sixth-grade girls back in 2007 has become a bone of contention on the campaign trail. Under the terms of Perry’s executive order, 12 year old girls in Texas were supposed to receive the Gardasil vaccine, which inoculates them against the human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV is quite widespread, with approximately 50% of sexually-active adults acquiring it during their lifetime. However, according to the Center for Disease Control, in 90% of cases, the body’s immune system eliminates the virus without any adverse effects. But in the remaining 10% of cases, the virus can have serious side effects, including genital warts or cervical cancer.

It is because of the risk of sexually-transmitted diseases that many medical authorities recommend administering the HPV vaccine to all girls before they become sexually active. Even though the executive order was ultimately overturned by the Texas legislature, Perry’s attempt to impose the HPV vaccine by executive fiat is hard to reconcile with his promise to reduce the government’s role in people’s lives.

Fellow GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann criticized Perry’s decision, saying that “to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong.” Even Democrats have joined in the criticism. During the 2010 election, they ran attack ads featuring menacing images of a needle poised to strike a young girl’s arm.

Perry’s decision also vexes social conservatives because inoculating girls against sexually-transmitted disease flies in the face of their support for abstinence-only sex education. Conservative Christian leaders were vocal in their opposition to the executive order, and their opposition was instrumental in convincing the legislature to overturn it.

Another issue with Perry’s support for the HPV vaccine is that Merck, the company that makes Gardasil, donated $30,000 to Perry’s campaign. The company also employs Perry’s former chief-of-staff as a lobbyist. Naturally, these close connections have given rise to claims that the Texas governor was acting more for the benefit of a major donor than the general public.

Although Michele Bachmann accused Perry of “crony capitalism,” he claimed that there was nothing untoward about the situation. “”If you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I’m offended,” he replied. However, as noted above, Merck’s contribution was actually much greater than the $5,000 quoted by Perry.

Furthermore, Merck and its subsidiaries also contributed $380,000 to the Republican Governors Association once Perry took the helm of that organization in 2006. Now that Perry is coming under fire for his decision, he seems intent on distancing himself from it. During a recent debate, he admitted that, if he had to do it all over again, he would have approached the matter differently.

Meanwhile, his spokesman Mark Milner, accused Bachmann and others of staging histrionics in order to draw attention to themselves. “You have candidates out there that are trying to get attention and will throw outlandish accusations out there just to get their name in the paper,” Milner said. “What drove the governor on this issue was protecting life.”

Despite the Sturm und Drang that this has generated, Perry is still the candidate most likely to appeal to the right wing of the GOP. His social conservative credentials are still stronger than those of Mitt Romney, who is still struggling to overcome grassroots Republican opposition to Massachusetts’ healthcare law.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/

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