The holidays are a joyous time for children, but not every child gets to experience the magic of Christmas morning.
However, there is a group in Sweetwater hoping to change that in your community.
The Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) non-profit organization works through out the year to help children who have survived child abuse.
"We go with them to court. Whenever they have the court, a lot of times the parents are subpoenaed. That's where we come in. We'll be there. We'll sit with them through court," Armando Moncibais said.
He is one of the heroes in the world, working to end child abuse through BACA.
"When you first meet them in an initial interview, they shut down. They are pretty much clinging on their mom or their dad, then after a while, they open up. It's just a wonderful feeling knowing we did something for that child," Moncibais said.
The 501(c) non-profit works hand in hand with law enforcement, district attorney's offices and agencies, like the West Texas Children's Advocacy Center (CAC).
"All of the victims that we serve throughout the whole year and their non-offending siblings, we help those families out with Christmas," Kelsey Zimmerman, executive director of CAC said.
With one of the agency's biggest time of the year, the two groups are teaming up to ensure each child gets the Christmas they deserve.
"We have a big tree at WalMart in Sweetwater and in Snyder," Zimmerman said.
Covering three counties, Nolan, Mitchel and Fisher, the agency and BACA hopes to alleviate families who are struggling.
"That kind of helps them get through a little bit of their struggles, because when you're dealing with an investigation, a lot of that can take time and money and time away from work," Zimmerman said.
Hoping to end the abusive trend in the process.
"It has really humbled me to know that my kids are safe. There is bad in the world. I don't want to scare people when they hear about child abuse but it's there, it's around the corner, it's underneath our noses, it's at the schools," Zimmerman said.
BACA is also in need of kids vests and teddy bears.
The kids vests are given to the kids who are adopting BACA into their family, and the teddy bears are for hugs when their BACA member is not there to give them one.
If you would like to donate to BACA, you can contact:
Chapter President: Kris "Mijo" Warner, mijo@rp-tx.bacaworld.org, (325) 829-2078
Chapter Vice President: Luis "T-Bone" Torres, t-bone@rp-tx.bacaworld.org (325) 242-6689
Chapter Child Liaison: Norma "Mouse" Torres, mouse@rp-tx.bacaworld.org (325) 242-5410
