it's all White to Say NO!

Posted by Sarah on August 25, 2011 at 3:04 pm Australia, Bravehearts No Responses »

Aug 252011

White Balloon Day is almost here

White Balloon Day is September 7th. What do you have planned? Check out the White Balloon Day website to see events have already been planned that you can attend, or register your own event.

a dollar sign is the cheesiest, but Bravehearts could really use your cash. It’s the biggest fundraising event of the year. All of your donations are tax deductible.

Right now there’s a lot of events planned in QLD, but NSW could really use some superstars to organize some events. Let’s make this year HUGE!

I really wish I could be there this year, unfortunately, it looks like I won’t be able to attend any events while my investigation is still underway.

White Balloon Day 2011

Posted by Sarah on August 19, 2011 at 9:11 am Bravehearts No Responses »

Aug 192011

September 7th is White Balloon Day

This year’s event marks the 15th annual White Balloon Day, a national awareness and fundraising campaign staged on September 7 during Child Protection Week (September 4 –11). Since 1997 when White Balloon Day resulted in an unprecedented 514 per cent increase in disclosures of sexual assault to Queensland Police, the humble white balloon has become synonymous with child protection and this special day has evolved into Bravehearts’ signature national event. White Balloon Day is not only a day of recognition, awareness and support for the victims of child sexual assault but is also the principle fundraising initiative which enables Bravehearts to educate, empower and protect all Aussie kids.

Check out the Events page to go to a pre-organised event, or create your own event and get other people involved.

Get Involved - Do the White Thing!

Being involved in White Balloon day is simple, fun and best of all, you are guaranteed to make a difference in the lives of Aussie kids.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can join us.

Step 1: Think white

Check out our Ideas page to help you decide how you want to get involved in White Balloon Day.
Get your school involved.
Get you church involved
Become an Everyday Hero

Step 2: Register online

Once you register your event, you will be sent our exclusive White Balloon Day Kit, which includes official White Balloon Day posters and brochures, a letter of consent to fundraise, promotional ideas and more. Registering your event also helps us create an accurate events calendar and allows us to promote your event on our website and encourage our supporters to support you.

Step 3: Take flight!

Let the fundraising begin…

Start to plan your event a few weeks in advance and be sure to invite your friends, family and co-workers to get involved. Your White Balloon Day Kit will contain more info on how to write a press release and get the media involved in your event. The more support and awareness created, the more funds we can raise to educate, empower and protect Aussie kids.

Stand up for victims of child abuse

Posted by Sarah on September 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm Bravehearts, hey dad sex scandal No Responses »

Sep 032010

National Child Protection Week

A study has just been released in Australia that says that just one third of Australians would call police if a child told them they were being sexually abused.

The results, released on Wednesday, showed that 48 per cent of people would not take action in clear-cut examples of child abuse for fear they might be wrong, while 42 per cent said they did not think it was their business. But most of the 22,000 people surveyed by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) believed child abuse was a serious issue.

Since March, when I went public with my own history of abuse, there has been literally thousand of blogs, forums and tweets discussing my case. So many people couldn’t believe that it had been allowed to happen. People are outraged. People all claim that they would have done something. However, if you were really put in that spot, would you have? This study shows, maybe not.

People have judged me for going public. A lot of people are upset by the “Trial by Media”. However, I wouldn’t have done it any differently if I had to do it over again. By going public, it has forced people to talk about it. It’s forced people to think about what they would do if confronted by the same situation. It made witnesses come forward and talk to the police about it. People who otherwise may have been too scared to speak, in case they heard the infamous, “You’ll never work in this country again” line. Unfortunately, TV in Australia is a tiny community. People are terrified of speaking out of school. It’s very easy to be blacklisted and never work again. I have no doubt that if this was not public that many people would still be denying knowledge of the situation because they’d be scared to talk about it.

I really hope that by speaking out, that parents are thinking very hard about whether to put their kids into acting or modeling. I hope that if they are in the biz, they’re watching their kids like hawks.

I hope that people will get the courage to speak up if they see abuse. If a kid tells you something is not right, go investigate it for yourself if you don’t believe them. Then go to the police. Then get your kid some help. Call Bravehearts or any other child advocacy group.

Don’t let happen to your kids what happened to me. Don’t be the 2/3rds of Australia that would just look the other way. Even if it’s not your kid. It’s your job to protect them. They came to you, they asked for your help. Do the right thing and get them the help they need.

Go to the Bravehearts website to learn more about Breaking the Silence on Child Sexual Assault.

White Balloon Day

Posted by Sarah on September 2, 2010 at 1:56 pm Bravehearts, Life, media No Responses »

Sep 022010

White Balloon Day Events

It’s only a few days now till White Balloon Day. Do you have anything planned?

I really wanted to be able to come home to attend some events, but the police asked me to hold off till next year, since they’re still investigating. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get out there and have some fun while raising money for a fantastic cause.

There are events all over Australia. Check out the Event Page on the White Balloon Day website to find something near you. If you can’t find one, you can organize your own event.

There are other ways to Get Involved. Buy a White Balloon, wear white, or just listen to a child who has something to tell you…

There are also Highway Thunder events, and if you’re into something a little more glitzy, there’s a big event for Bravehearts on the 10th, which I really wish I could make it to; The Shine the Light Gala at the Sydney Opera House Marquee.

So go ahead, get involved and make Australia the safest place to raise a child.

The Surreal Life of a Former Child Star

Posted by Sarah on May 18, 2010 at 12:38 pm former child star, hey dad sex scandal, media No Responses »

May 182010

It’s funny how life can be so surreal sometimes.

I’ve lived here in Texas for 10 years now. We’ve traveled a bit, including a couple of trips back home, but for the most part, I’ve spent the past 10 years being just your average Joe. Nobody over here really knows about my life back in Australia. The few people who do know that I was once an actress only really know because they’ve been to one of my parties where another Aussie Expat has let the cat out of the bag and said that once upon a time in a land far, far away, Sarah was on a popular TV show…. For the most part though, I just tell them it was on a long time ago and it’s not a big deal and they leave it at that. I’m so normal over here that sometimes even I forget that I was once an actress. I tell them “Hey Dad..! was like Full House and I was like Candace Cameron. Nobody’s heard of her since then either…. ”

So, when I’m out and about and look at my tweetdeck and see my own name come up, sometimes I’m like, “Huh?” Yesterday, I was out working at a promotion and saw a couple of tweets. I figured someone may have been slow on the uptake, or I had somehow come into Andy Blume’s wrath of hate again. So when I clicked on the link and saw it was a new article, it was kinda strange.

really? Page 3? Surely there's something more important going on.

I sent the link to Matt and when I got home he told me he thought something was going on, since he had been getting calls all weekend from strange journalists looking for a story. He thought it was odd that people were all interested again. I had also received emails from a couple of journos, but forwarded them on to the Detectives at Strike Force Ruskin, since I’m not supposed to talk about the case at all while they’re still investigating.

It’s very strange when you’re in the news. It’s even weirder when you’re so far removed from it that you don’t even know it’s happening except when you happen across it like on Twitter or someone sends you a newspaper clip like the one above. It’s very surreal. It’s also amusing that it took journo’s over a month to find that blog post. Oh well, I guess it was a slow news day in Australia.

But, I guess at least the good thing is that they mentioned Bravehearts. I am super excited to be one of their Ambassadors. I’m going to be coming home in September to attend the White Balloon Day event. They’re going to be having a Celebs Who Say NO campaign and I get to be part of it. I’m not sure I really qualify as a Celeb, as I think of myself as just another has been Former Child Star, but I’m flattered somebody thinks so. If it means I get to do something good, I’ll take the title.

So, make sure you keep an eye out for any White Balloon Day events near you. It’s not to early to start planning something.

White Balloon Day is September 7th, 2010. Go to the White Balloon Day website to see how you can get involved. It could be as simple as purchasing an official White Balloon Day Balloon to fly at work, wearing white that day, or attending on of the special dinners that are being organized. I’m going to be sitting at one of those dinner tables, so maybe we’ll get to meet in person. I like meeting new people!

So check back here to see more information about White Balloon Day and Bravehearts as I get more involved.

Sarah Monahan