Feb 25, 2016 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – A fish fry and seafood buffet today at Greene County Career and Technology Center will help victims of domestic violence.

This fundraiser was cooked up by two of instructor Dan Wagner’s culinary arts students and will help to purchase a play set for children displaced from their homes by domestic violence who end up staying at Washington County Women’s Shelter.

When Molly Fitch and Tabatha Wise decided to participate in the annual Family Career Community Leaders of America competition, they chose advocacy as their category and teen dating violence as their focus.

As organizers, they invited Cheryl McCready and Natalie Schwoerer from Domestic Violence of Southwestern Pennsylvania into GCCTC to talk to teens about what leads to violence when dating.

It was an eye opener for all who heard Schwoerer’s heartfelt but frank presentation of what changes from puppy love into pain and fear.

“You could have heard a pin drop,” Wagner said. “All the students were so quiet and engaged. They definitely got the message.”

Afterward, some students went back to class and got up the courage to talk to their teachers, Wagner said.

“I saw some students and they had tears in their eyes,” he said.

Schwoerer described the various stages that lead up to an abusive relationship and how many behaviors students did without realizing their actions had the potential to lead to unhealthy relationships.

“It really surprised me how long the honeymoon stage could be,” Wise said.

That time when a couple was in love could last a year or more before violence began, first with a slap or a shove.

The time between slaps and shoves becomes shorter as the violence continues, they learned.

Demands to know where the other is spending time might sound harmless but jealousy can lead to verbal abuse or worse.

They also learned that the Women’s Shelter in Washington County, which is used by Greene County women and their children, had some needs of its own – more twin mattresses, bedding, toiletries and a new swing set. That’s when Fitch and Wise decided to not only do advocacy but also throw a fundraiser for that swing set.

In a few weeks, Fitch and Wise will wrap up their project of advocacy when McCready and Schwoerer return to Central Greene High School for a second presentation for the health class students. They will write their report and travel to the state competition to be judged. There they will have a chance to tell others what they learned.

“I’m pleased I’ve been part of reaching others who have been victims of teen violence,” Fitch said. “I learned things I didn’t know and a lot of my friends didn’t know either.”

The students will be serving up cod sandwiches with fries, coleslaw and a drink for $8 and a buffet of seafood pastas, salmon, baked fish, salad and desert for $10. Lunch begins at 11 a.m. and will be served until 1 p.m.