Helen Estrada of the Children`s Guardian Foundation. A year ago Helen`s friend, Ron Starkman in Nevada, asked for her assistance in developing and marketing an idea he had to prevent accidents involving children at school crosswalks. He called it a `Crosswalk Guardian` a handheld flashing stop sign. Once you raise the sign the light goes on and once it`s pointed down the light goes off. It`s especially noticeable in inclement weather. There`s a rechargeable adapter connection at the bottom that`s plugged in like a cell phone to recharge the light. `The flashing light immediately grabs people`s attention three times sooner than those currently used,` she says. `That means three seconds and three seconds can mean everything. It can mean a child`s life.` This was something personal and close to Helen`s heart. She had been one of these children. `When I was a child I was at a pedestrian crossing and was hit by a car going 40 miles per hour,` she says. `My shoes were knocked off. I couldn`t feel my feet. I couldn`t walk for quite a long time. I missed a lot of school. I was in rehab every day. I do have spinal damage for the rest of my life. You know what, I`m lucky. There are a lot of families that I talk to who are still mourning the loss of their children and grandchildren.`
Helen gave up her job as a fashion designer and decided to take a stand and do something that she believed in. It was agreed that the foundation could not sell the signs to schools. The signs would be donated free through contributions `Schools are under funded,` she says, `and they generally need from two to six signs.` The foundation is non-profit. Helen, the California Regional Director, and three others in Southern California cover the territory. That`s not a whole lot of people to get the word out. `We`re a grass roots organization so we market it through communities one community at a time,` she says. According to Helen, there are 660 schools in Los Angeles County. `Nearly 100 of them have signs,` she says. `We`re slowly getting out there,` she says. `For as grass roots as we are, we are doing it and we`ll keep doing it for however long it takes.`
One way they`re raising money is to offer a raffle through banks. There`s a poster at Bank of America on Windward Ave. You can buy tickets from a teller. All the proceeds will go to Venice schools. `Once we reach our goal then we draw a winner for a Play Station II and the tellers who participate get little prizes for participating and the kids get to be protected and we all win,` says Helen.
Helen related a couple of stories to me. The following are only two. Even last night on the 11:00 news there was an item about the death of a child walking across the street with adults. It happens way too often.
About four months ago I was on my way to drop off signs in South Central Los Angeles and the street was blocked off and there were cops every where. I rolled my window down and said, `What`s going on? I`ve got to get through. I`m dropping these signs off. I just want to go next door to this school. The officer said, `You`re a little late. There were four kids at this crossing and they`re all in ICU now. It was a hit and run`.
Three-year old Alexander Cruz`s grandfather walked him to preschool every day in San Francisco. One morning they were holding hands crossing the street and a car going only fifteen miles an hour hit them both. The grandfather survived. Because Alexander couldn`t survive the impact of the collision he died immediately holding his grandfather`s hand. `That`s why most of these children are victims,` says Helen. `Most of them do die or are paralyzed. Their bodies can`t survive the impact. I know of children who have died and the cars are going only five miles per hour. It`s where they are hit. It`s horrible`.
`People ask me all the time,` says Helen, `What is the reason for this? Why aren`t people slowing down?` Number one, a lot don`t care. They`re self-absorbent. All they care about is themselves. They have to get to their place on time. They`re on their cell phones. They`re not used to something stopping them. Nobody really enforces the speed limit near schools. When you can`t rely on motorists to slow down, to protect the children, you have to rely on people in the community. That`s why it`s a grass root program. We target the people in the community one person at a time. If we can just get one person to spread the word to ten people and then those ten people to spread it to ten more people, then we`re doing something effective.`
Helen also works with PTAs. `Parents are a big issue,` she says. `They`re a big part of the problem at schools. They don`t want to get in the congestion in the parking lot so they`ll drop their children off across the street. They don`t want to pull in and cooperate with what the schools ask them to do. Or after school they`ll wait down the street honking and having road rage with the other parents. Some of the parents are lazy. They don`t see any problems except traffic and it`s every man for himself. They`re not aware. They need a reminder`.
Helen wants to spread more awareness, either through the signs or by talking about it. Accidents at pedestrian crosswalks are the second leading cause of children`s death in America (the first is automobile accidents, both involving cars). `I think that it`s up to us individual human beings to actually make a difference,` she says. `We can`t really expect to change the world but it takes just one person, one person to care enough to make a difference to one other person and that`s all I want. I would just so appreciate for people to hear this message, to know what our cause is. Go to our website, www.childrensguardianfoundation.org, to learn about who we are, spread the awareness. And, please be more careful driving. It would help us so much`.
Please contact Helen at 310-266-1094 for more information, to make a donation or to have her speak to your organization or business. If you check out the website, you`ll notice that businesses on Abbot Kinney Blvd. Sunya Currie, Strohs Gourmet, Daisy Arts, Home for All Seasons and The Goddess have already contributed. Way to go!!
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