Erin Runnion, Founder of Joyful Child Foundation, Praises Yahoo for Closing Chat Rooms in Order to Protect Children

Business Wire, June 25, 2005

WESTMINSTER, Calif. -- Erin Runnion, founder of The Joyful Child Foundation -- In Memory of Samantha Runnion and child protection advocate, has issued the following statement in support of Yahoo's recent decision to close its user-created chat rooms amid concerns that pedophiles use them to lure victims and to disseminate child pornography. Yahoo has said that the chat rooms will remain closed while the company makes enhancements to ensure that users adhere to the site's terms of service.

"On behalf of The Joyful Child Foundation, I applaud Yahoo for recognizing their responsibility and taking this opportunity to help better protect our nation's children," said Runnion. "Brave actions such as this give me hope that we can work together as corporations, non-profit organizations, legislators, law enforcers and individuals to effectively stop crimes against children. The intolerable reality is that our children are the largest group of victims in our nation and the only way to protect them is to work together to raise awareness and share best practices to stop predators from gaining access to our most vulnerable and precious citizens."

The Joyful Child Foundation -- In Memory of Samantha Runnion, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, for public benefit organization dedicated to uniting and uplifting our nation's communities in the protection and wonderment of all children. The Joyful Child Foundation was inspired by the life of Samantha Runnion, a beautiful, bright, joyful little girl with a passion for art.

Samantha's life was cut short as the youngest victim of the summer of abductions in 2002. The Joyful Child Foundation is dedicated to preserving Samantha's memory by transforming their grief into compassionate action that focuses on proactive measures to deal with the difficult issue of violence against children. The Joyful Child Foundation launched Samantha's PRIDE Community Awareness and Child Watch program in 2004 to strengthen communities and protect children from predators. Today, more than 400 volunteer PRIDE Protectors participate in over 80 PRIDES throughout California.

For more information, please visit www.thejoyfulchild.org or call 866-7-JOYFUL.