Federal tax returns are due in about a dozen days and an Iowa-based charity is hoping taxpayers in the state don’t skip the opportunity to make a quick donation.
Sarah Welch, spokeswoman for Prevent Child Abuse Iowa, says the non-profit organization is dedicated to prevention through education. “We, from January of last year through March of this year, were able to come in second among the four beneficiaries of the checkoffs that are on the state income tax return form,” Welch says, “and with that second-place finish in the number of contributions we receive, that means we’ll stay on the state income tax return form for another two years.”
She says the tax return checkoff netted the organization $65,000 last year for its child abuse prevention programs. The services last year served 12-thousand parents and 45,000 children in 83 Iowa counties. The annual Prevent Child Abuse Iowa Conference is scheduled for next week.
Around 500 people from across Iowa are expected to attend. Welch says they’re partnered with the Iowa Department of Public Health and its Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. “They’ve provided a lot of support and resources to help us bring in some pretty significant national speakers from major research institutes like the Pew Charitable Trust,” Welch says. “We also have somebody from the National Fatherhood Institute coming out.”
The conference runs April 14th through the 16th at the West Des Moines Sheraton. Learn more at: www.pcaiowa.org
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)