The Run for a Child 10K, 5K Run and 1 mile walk will be held at the Pinnacle Promenade Mall - Rogers, AR Exit 83 off I-540 September 1, 2008 (Labor Day). Start Time 8:00am (Registration: 6-7:30am). The 10K course is a certified course for competitive runners. The 5k and 1 mile courses are for children and families to walk or run. Your entry fee includes 10K Run, 5K Run, 1 mile walk/run, food, beverages, goody bags, prizes, awards and fun for the entire family.

A Pre-Race Expo will be held in the Pinnacle Promenade parking lot (under the tents) on Sunday, August 31st from 10 am to 5 pm. Come and visit sponsors demonstrating their products. This is also a good time for those who haven't register to do so, and advanced registrants can pick up their packets at this time. The packets include: goody bag, t-shirt, race bib, and timing chip. This will save you time the morning of the event!

We haven't forgotten your children on race day, take them to visit our Kid's Zone! The kids will have lots of fun on the inflatables!

Anderson Children's Foundation, Inc.

Our Mission

To offer financial support to organizations which provide for the care, security, health, education, and counseling of children who have been physically, emotionally, or sexually abused.

The Organization

The Anderson Children's Foundation, Inc. is staffed by volunteers whose time and efforts bring funds to programs which help abused and neglected children. This foundation has no salary or administrative expenses, which means that virtually every dollar of donations given goes directly to the programs that help these children. There are thousands of abused and neglected children in the United States. These children need our love. These children need our trust. These children need our help.

The History of the Foundation

Children Are Our Privilege to Have. Don't Abuse Them.
Our commitment is caring.

The Anderson Children's Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1998 by Scott B. Anderson. Mr. Anderson formed this non-profit corporation to benefit abused children. This foundation was created in memory of a little boy named Lattie.

Lattie was four years old when his mother and her boyfriend systematically tortured him over one long summer. He was beaten, starved, burned, and hanged upside down in a locked closet for nights on end. His mouth was taped shut so that no one could hear his muffled cries. Over the course of that summer in 1987, Lattie's life slipped agonizingly away.

Lattie's brother, Cornelius, was six at the time. Cornelius was subjected to the same kind of abuse as Lattie. Worse, he watched his little brother slowly being killed by his own mother and could not stop it. Somehow, he survived.

The foundation is dedicated to the memory of Lattie and is also dedicated to the life of Cornelius. Their story keeps our focus on the children that we are determined to help. We will fund organizations that will help prevent another needless death like Lattie's and that will help children like Cornelius to heal.

Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter

Mission Statement: The mission of Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter is to provide a safe and nurturing atmosphere of hope for children in crisis and to sponsor programs that encourage individual growth and development.

Vision Statement: "To touch the lives of children in need."

Statement of Values:

Compassion: We will recognize and meet the needs of children with respect, sensitivity and unconditional love.

Excellence: We will set the standard for high quality service to children by performing above the expected.

Integrity: We will strive with our words and actions to be worthy of the trust placed in us.

More about the Shelter:

The Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter is a private, nonprofit organization that provides twenty-four hour emergency residential care to children who are victims of family violence, neglect and physical and sexual abuse. It is designed to meet the needs of these children by providing them with an immediate safe & loving environment that reduces their current trauma through support and nurturance.

The Shelter is able to accommodate up to thirty-two residents at a time. The shelter accepts females, birth through seventeen years of age, and males, birth through twelve years of age. We also accept males through fourteen years of age who are a part of a sibling group and have no history of physical violence, are not sexually aggressive toward other children, and meet our admission criteria.

Eligibility for placement will be limited to children and youth who are not a danger to themselves or others, and who are not severely emotionally disturbed, and do not have medical needs that cannot be met in our facility. The children must be referred by a responsible party or agency (DCFS and/or courts, legal parent or guardian) who accepts legal custody and responsibility for the case plan and permanency planning.

A child can stay in the emergency shelter for a maximum of forty-five days within a six-month period. During their stay at the shelter, the children are provided with food, clothing, medical care, education, weekly activities, and transportation. Positive reinforcement and encouragement are provided daily for the children whether it is for the completion of school assignments, setting and meeting goals, decision making, problem solving or other areas of need or interest to the resident. The shelter provides a safe and nurturing environment for the children until DHS is able to place them in foster homes or until they can return to their families.

Many different children come and go from the shelter. Each of them is unique in their own way, come from different backgrounds and have been through different experiences. However, the one thing they have in common is that each one of them have been scarred by abuse or neglected; a child who is so timid that you cannot touch or hug him because he has been severely beaten. There are children who have been sexually abused by a family member or friend and nobody believes them. Teenage girls no longer love or trust anyone because they have been tossed around in numerous placements. Many children do not know what it means to attend school, regularly see a doctor when needed, eat three healthy meals a day, take a bath, brush their teeth, have clean clothes, sleep in a warm bed, or just to have someone to care for them. Their stories are heartbreaking and their lives are shattered. Although their stay at the shelter is temporary, we can still make a difference in their lives.