You can make a difference in the lives of child abuse victims.

Statistics show one in 10 children will be sexually or physically abused before their 18th birthday.

But a nonprofit is making sure the victims in our area have all the tools to make a full recovery while holding the offender accountable.

Hope is prevailing when it comes to abused children in Monroe County. Out of the around two thousand cases in nearly a decade, we’re told almost all of the kids have been able to overcome that trauma and get back to enjoying their childhood.

Monroe County Children's Advocacy Center Executive Director Curtis Rogers says, "Yes, they’re kids. Yes, they’ve dealt with a lot. But it’s amazing how resilient they can be and how strong they can be when they know they have team behind them and support behind them."

That team is the Monroe County Children's Advocacy Center. All the services to hold an offender accountable and help a boy or girl heal are located inside the Pocono Ambulatory Surgery Center on Storm Street in Stroudsburg. The kid-focused space makes dealing with the tough situation easier.

Rogers says, "A child might have to be talked to at school and then go to a police station and then go to a Children and Youth office and then perhaps a doctor’s office and so they might be going 4,5 or 6 places which is we can imagine, incredibly stressful and difficult."

Each child is not only seen and heard for free but the center is set up to ensure a single interview is conducted by a trained forensic interviewer as the prosecutor, law enforcement, children and youth, medical experts and mental health professionals are able to watch and listen in.

Rogers says, "If they have to tell that story over and over again and over again, they become exhausted, they become fatigued and they feel that they’re going through almost revictimization by having to live it again and again."

And it’s greatly needed, we’re told caseload only continues to grow year after year.

Rogers says, "We believe that that’s not so much because there’s more child abuse happening but because more awareness is happening. People are becoming aware of the need to look out for kids, not just even their own kids, but kids in their community and we hope that that continues so that everybody can make it community problem, that has a community solution."

But the nonprofit can’t provide those services without the community’s support. That’s why it’s important you show up here at the Beltzville Bar and Grill this Saturday for the 3rd Annual Children’s Adovcacy Center Ride For Kids.

Monroe County Children's Advocacy Center Advisory Board President William Parrish says, "The center receives some grant monies but not enough to cover the expenses of the support systems that need to be in place for the child victims in these cases."

The motorcycle ride starts at 11am. Registration starts at 10am or you can sign up beforehand on their Facebook page. And all the money goes to the center.

Parrish says, "$30 for a rider, $10 for a passenger. Along with the ride, you get a t-shirt, you get some tricky-tray tickets, food."

If you don’t want to do the ride, just show up at 2pm for the tricky tray and you too can help make a difference in the lives of abused children in Monroe County.