Why I Do What I Do

By David Clohessy
SNAP
January 21, 2016

http://www.snapnetwork.org/why_i_do_what_i_do

Last week, in less than 24 hours, SNAP was in at least seven news outlets in three cities last week. Why? And why is this important?

The “why” is simple: we have dedicated volunteer leaders across the country (and increasingly, the world) who are:

--smart enough to recognize outreach opportunities, and

--generous enough to quickly drop their other responsibilities and seize those opportunities.

When abuse scandals surfaced in Seattle, Oakland and Kalamazoo, SNAP leaders Mary Dispenza, Bill McAlary, Tim Lennon and Melanie Sakoda dropped what they were doing, overcame their hesitation, summoned their strength and used these scandals to further expose church wrongdoing, raise the expectations bar, and beg those with knowledge or suspicions about abuse to come forward.

Why is this important?

Again, the answer is simple. Because virtually no one else is doing this. Virtually no one else relentlessly urges people who can make kids safer to take action.

And it’s important because it works. It might be years until these efforts bear fruit. But they WILL bear fruit. We in SNAP will at some point hear from victims, witnesses and whistleblowers in or near these three cities. Their phone messages or emails will include this some version statement: “I saw your group in the news in January of 2016 and I’m just now able or willing to step and do something.”

That, in a nutshell, is why I do what I do: because I get to work with and help tremendous leaders like Mary, Bill, Tim and Melanie. And together, we help others still trapped in shame, silence and self-blame and make kids safer by exposing those who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

It’s just that simple. And that wonderful.

Details are here:

Seattle:

[komonews.com]

Oakland:

[ktvu.com]

Kalamazoo:

[woodtv.com]