By Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy CEO Joe Dorman
The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) applauded a federal court decision last week that ordered the extension of the Census deadline to the original October 31 date. That extra month will make a huge difference, especially as we work to ensure historically undercounted groups – including children age zero-to-five, one of the hardest-to-count groups.
OICA will use our upcoming Political Hacks’ Chili Cookoff fundraiser, set for Saturday, October 17, as a Census-promoting event. The chili cook-off is slated for the parking lot behind OICA’s building, located at 2915 N. Classen Boulevard in Oklahoma City. OICA will observe social distancing with entries set up tailgate style. We will distribute samples via drive-thru pick-up for those wishing to try them and people can vote online from our website for the people’s choice.
Further, OICA will have a notary on hand to notarize absentee ballots and offer copy service to those who need to copy identification to send in with their absentee ballots. OICA is also partnering with the Oklahoma Blood Institute to accept blood donations, with a goal to have 50 donors at the event. Go to oica.org for more information and we will continue to add sponsors and information as it is solidified.
In addition, OICA has several awards which are under nomination at this time. They will be presented at our Fall Forum on November 18. Please go to oica.org to nominate for these recognitions.
The Laura Choate Resilience Award recognizes someone who has risen from traumatic experiences as a child and works to help young Oklahomans overcome those similar issues that they are currently facing.
The Steven A. Novick Child Advocacy Award identifies an “unsung hero” for young people in our state. This award is given to a person who has dedicated themselves to helping children in our state lead better lives.
The third of the awards is the Moran Kidizenship Award. The Kidizenship Awards is the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy’s statewide recognition rewarding excellence in youth philanthropy for those under 18 who have made the state better for their peers.
We are also looking for the next Oklahoma “Kid Governor” to represent our state. Candidates should address statewide issues affecting the well-being of Oklahoma’s children. Kid Governor candidates must be between the ages of 7 and 11, live in Oklahoma, and submit a one-minute campaign video to OICA.
The video should outline the following:
- A little about themselves (name, age, school and where they live).
- Why they want to be Oklahoma’s Kid Governor.
- The qualities and skills as a spokesperson they will bring to the position.
Applicants must talk about an issue involving the state’s children that they think is particularly important and why it is essential. The issue could be child abuse and neglect, education, foster care, the physical or mental health of children, or any appropriate topic chosen by the candidate.
Videos longer than one minute will be disqualified. To submit a video, upload the video to Google Drive at https://tinyurl.com/okkidgov or post it on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OKChildAdv.
Finally, OICA also is seeking entries for our calendar art contest – the 365 best will be in our calendar and the best in show wins $100. The art can be uploaded at https://oicaart.artcall.org. The theme is “A Healthy Future for Oklahoma’s Children.” Please encourage children under 18 in your lives to submit their work and also reach out to your local schools to promote this as a class project.
