Challenge all 43ers to light a candle to help STOP child pornography at www.lightamillioncandles.com

My thanks to the many people involved in putting a stop to the victimization of our children. What you are doing is profound, you are not only saving lives you are repairing souls. There is much healing yet to come, both for these children, their families, and to those so committed to this cause they not only put their lives in danger but deal with the emotional trauma of what they see, and we cannot even imagine. For making the world safer for my children you have my most deep, profound and heartfelt thanks.

I find it almost hard to check this goal as having done it. Somehow it leaves me feeling as though I am putting it down as if I am “done with that” and onto the next thing, like stop drinking so much Coke (which is a pathetic goal considering the importance of this one) And although I do feel I’ve accomplished the specifics of this goal, the message and meaning of this goal I continue to carry in my heart and wish to continue to put myself “out there” in the world, hopefully making it a safer world for all the children.

I didn’t challenge many 43thingers, but I passed the link onto my family and friends, as well as our local chapter of Amnesty International. Together we have helped to raise awareness of child pornography. Hopefully, we can one day eradicate this.

for me to take this off my list. The online petition to light a million candles against child pornography was originally supposed to end on this date. It’s possible, due to an overwhelming response, that the site might be kept up longer. They are well over their initial goal of a million candles.

I’m happy to have played a part and will continue to be a guardian online for children around the world. I’m sure that hundreds of people were contacted both here on 43things and by word of mouth and have joined the ranks. I’m also mightily impressed with the array of different postings here. Each one has touched my heart with its own unique appeal.

I took the challenge outside of 43things as well and passed this along to my family and friends who are not aware of this site, 43things that is _{my little secret, isn’t that selfish!;p} but I knew they would find this a very important cause

Here’s how you can help.

If you want to find out more information about child pornography on the Internet, you can check out http://www.missingkids.com or http://www.icmec.org

If you want to report a child pornography website, go to http://www.cybertipline.com or http://www.inhope.org

If you want to help shutdown child pornography websites on the Internet, you can make a donation at http://www.race4innocence.org

I’m thrilled that so many of you have taken the time to share your thoughts and comments here and it’s wonderful to see our community coming together for such a worthy cause.

In view of the recent events in the news,( of both my country of Canada, and the World), It only goes to show what great need there is to have the spotlight shone that much brighter on this incredibly important subject. I believe a dramatic change should take place within our own judicial system , as of today ( if not yesterday!) . There should be more time put into fighting these horrendous crimes, and funding to backup these programs , which could save countless lives. If something is not done about it now, things will surely only get worse, in a multitude of ways. These harmed and hurt souls ,will be pushed out into the world, lost and on their own, at a age far too young to be able to comprehend the challenges they shall face ahead of them in life…. ....We will all encounter them throughout our lives… often daily , many of them unknowingly. They many be some of the homeless kids you see begging on the streets , the girl on the corner turning tricks for her next fix, or the one who lays dieing alone in a hospital bed ,from a disease someone gave her at an age when she should have been having Tea parties with her teddies , and chasing her kitten about the room with a ball of string. There are countless others going through the system in various different ways ….one number at a time. Some through foster care, or various therapies, psychiatric wards and medical procedures….. Some may be the latest “unnamed” suicide you hear about on the front page of the local paper or evening News , others are merely lost, and never to be found…... It effects us all , it hurts us all, whether we want to admit the brutal truth or not. What we need to do is stand up tall and strong , and be the voice for those who do not have one.
Light a candle today, and do it in memory of those no longer with us, those for whom we can save, and those for which we are still waiting to come home…. ( perhaps they will see the light burning in the window, and hear the voices of education being spread through the mouths of the wise, the caring , and open hearted.).I want to thank our Miss” Globetrotter” for getting this all Important “Movement” flowing through our 43 veins , and the threads that will inevitably extend out past this “arena”, to where it will take hold, and really start to do some good. Pass this knowledge on , pressure government to do MORE than better, and never allow the mistakes of the past to become our future, .....for our children are so precious, and deserve so much more than this in life…....My candle has now been lite.

Often our impact on the world remains forever hidden to us, we never come to know how much of a difference we’ve made in the lives of our friends, family and even complete strangers. At different times in my life I have seen the pain and suffering of loved ones and simply stood still because I didn’t think I knew how to help. I always wanted to reach out but I falsely believed that I had nothing to offer, no way to comfort them. Some mountains seem too steep to climb, some issues too daunting to make even the smallest dent, but if we stay at the bottom of the mountain looking upwards saying it’s impossible then we can be sure we’ll never reach the top. When you light a candle you are not just lighting a candle to stop child pornography you are lighting a candle for any of those who’ve been victimized in this way. The individuals who participate in child pronography are the very predators that are seeking out our children in chat rooms and elsewhere. I cannot speak as someone whose life has been touched by this kind of pain or victimization but I believe that if I knew that this many people care and what happened to me and are doing their part to speak out against it, I believe this knowledge would lift my spirits.

and asking your friends to do the same means that we are heightening awareness of child pornography on the Internet. Many of you have been asking how lighting a candle will help stop child pornography. I try to look at it this way. If a million candles are lit, that means a million people have visited the site and are more aware of the problem. Everyone knows a child and will want to make the Internet a safer place for them. I try to think of us as watchdogs. If we are more aware of this problem, it’s likely we will tell our friends and family about it too. The circle of friends and ‘guardians’ continues to grow with each candle lit.

Thank you, Globetrotter for the invitation.

To all: I’ve lit my candle, have you lit yours?