(This article was written by Abigail Muniz-Garcia and appeared in the June 2024 issue of Explore Harlingen Magazine.)
Janet Magee remembers a defining moment in her mission to advocate for abused children. While she and her husband awaited their turn in family court about 30 years ago, she witnessed eight siblings being reunited for the first time in months in that court room.
Although she didn’t know those children, what happened next is something she won’t forget. The children’s joy turned into sadness and grief when their mother never showed up.
Later, Magee found out that over 2,000 children in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) were in the care of Child Protective Services (CPS).
“That was our awakening moment… that we had to do something about this,” Magee said. “We wanted to be the hands and feet of Christ. It has evolved the way God meant for it to evolve.”
Magee and her husband were in family court that day because of their daughter’s battle with addiction, which meant repeated home visits, interviews, and days at family court because of their own grandchildren.
Blue Sunday, a nonprofit organization, was founded after that in 1994. The organization has two goals. The first is to raise awareness among the faith community through their Blue Ribbon Church Program and an event, which happens the last Sunday in April, called National Blue Sunday Day of Prayer for Abused Children. The second goal is to meet the needs of abused children living in the RGV.
“The way we operate is that we work side by side with CPS and other agencies,” Magee said. “We have a monthly brown bag lunch. We have lunch together to talk about what the needs (in the Valley) are.”
She mentions that the agencies in the area are not in competition with each other but rather come together to help one another help abused children in the RGV.
“We work as a really large team of agencies. Even though we are not connected in name, we are connected in heart,” she stated.
Blue Sunday has relief projects planned throughout the year. One such project is the Annual Blue Zoo event that brings foster children together with their siblings. This event happens in late summer. This year will be the first time the event will happen since the pandemic put a stall to it several years ago.
“We want to fill in the blanks. We want these kids to know that there are people that care and believe in them,” Magee said.
During Christmas time, they run a project called Annual Brighter Christmas Campaign for Abused Children which helps provide food, Christmas trees, and of course, gifts to children.
“We are a ministry. We are faith based and want to share the love of Christ. Sometimes it’s just standing by these agencies,” Magee said.
“Today we helped two families with CPS cases with their groceries,” she said. “We just try to meet the needs.”
While the organization works on relief projects such as the ones mentioned throughout the year, Magee says they work daily on ensuring families stay together and children are taken care of.
Magee encourages people to visit their website, bluesunday.org. The “Partner with Prevention Professionals” tab on the site offers resources for anyone who is interested in helping or learning more.
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