I walk for my niece, Ashleigh Quinn MacMaster. Ashleigh is my twin brother Shane's daughter. She is the first female to grace the MacMaster Clan in over a generation, my parents' first grandchild and the very first person to call me "Uncle." :-) Simply put, Ashleigh is our PRINCESS! She is an absolute joy, and I love and adore her more than words can express. Ashleigh has lots of fun hobbies: playing in her sandbox, searching for bunnies in her Nana's backyard, collecting rocks, eating blueberries and watching Pinocchio. She likes to count, especially to the number 19 (that's how high she's up to at last count)! She sings "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" every night before she goes to bed; some nights, she throws "Frosty the Snowman" into the mix. Singing Christmas Carols year-round is part of her nightly routine along with Daddy's "story time." She loves being a big sister to her baby brother Brody, and she gets a hoot out of making him laugh. She's also a very big helper to Mommy and Daddy.

Ashleigh, like other young girls her age, was born into a society where dating violence is a common occurrence. 1 in 3 teenage girls report knowing a friend or peer who has been punched, slapped, kicked or strangled. Teenagers today have little to no concept about what constitutes and does not constitute a healthy relationship. Societal and cultural influences send dangerous messages to our children -- messages that convey rigid, outdated notions about femininity and masculinity. After the Rhianna and Chris Brown incident, a survey conducted by the Boston Public Health Commission showed that 46% of teens polled blamed Rhianna for the assault. 44% said that fighting is common in a relationship; 71% said that arguing is a normal part of a relationship. As someone who works in prosecutorial-based victim services, I can attest that teen dating abuse is a very REAL problem.

Through the types of preventative programming offered by non-profit organizations like MAAV, we can no doubt reverse these cultural influences. Kids must be taught that violence and other abusive behaviors have no place in a healthy relationship. In fact, MAAV has been doing this work for over a decade now with impressive results! As a member of the Board of Directors, I am proud of MAAV's innovative school-based initiatives that work to address this very issue. Eleven years from now, Ashleigh will be entering high school. It's my goal that society will be in a better place then so that Ashleigh is never at risk of becoming a victim of dating abuse. Were she to be a teenager today, Ashleigh would be at great risk. I ask you to consider making a contribution, not just for Ashleigh and those who love her like me -- but for your daughter, granddaughter, niece, sibling or cousin. They too are at risk, and it's not too late to help.