YONKERS, Jan. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Sunday, January 20th, the Honorable Phil Amicone, Mayor of Yonkers, the fourth largest city in New York State, established the First Annual "Respect Life Week" in the City of Yonkers. Mayor Amicone's press release invited both the public and the media to attend an afternoon ceremony that included several short speeches and a Mayoral Proclamation declaring the week of January 21st as a week dedicated to promoting adoption, Safe Havens and a greater respect for the sanctity of human life in the City of Yonkers.
Several leaders from community-based organizations were invited to speak at the Mayor's press conference which took place on the steps of Yonker's magnificent City Hall that graces one of Yonker's hills overlooking the Hudson River. Dr. Elizabeth Rex, President of The Children First Foundation (CFF), was invited to emcee the event and to speak about the importance of adoption and Safe Haven efforts; John Margand, Director of Healthy Respect, spoke about the importance of abstinence education; Rev. William Norman, Pastor of Solid Rock Church, spoke about faith-based outreach programs; and representatives from the Pregnancy Center and from Silent No More, a post-abortion healing ministry, also spoke about their important and compassionate ministries to support distressed women in need of assistance.
After delivering his Mayoral Proclamation, Mayor Amicone concluded the well-attended press conference by reading a recently released Proclamation by President Bush that established Sunday, January 20, 2008, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. With striking similarities, the President's Proclamation called upon all Americans to recognize the day "with appropriate ceremonies" in order "to encourage adoption, fund abstinence education and crisis pregnancy programs, and support faith-based groups." Mayor Amicone, who was sporting one of CFF's unmistakable, bright yellow "Choose Life" ties for this special event, graciously presented a framed copy of his Mayoral Proclamation to Dr. Rex and publicly thanked CFF for its efforts to raise public awareness and funding for Adoption and Safe Havens efforts in the City of Yonkers.
Since 2001, The Children First Foundation has granted over $65,000 to Pregnancy Centers, Maternity Homes and Safe Haven efforts throughout the Tri- State Area to help promote and support Adoption as a positive choice for unwanted pregnancies and unwanted newborns.
