Chef Roy Yamaguchi and his Jacksonville Beach restaurant recently hosted “A Night at Roy’s” to benefit MBF Child Safety Matters™, a research–based, bullying and child abuse prevention education program.

From l to r, Ed Burr, chairman of the board, Monique Burr Foundation, Chef Roy Yamaguchi and Matt Rapp, executive director, The PLAYERS Championship-PGA Tour, gather for a photo as they greet guests.

Ed Burr, chairman of the board of directors and founder of the foundation, said, “This annual event raises funds that are vital to continue our work. Our MBF Child Safety Matters™ program reached more than one million children throughout Florida this year and the program was recently launched for the first time outside of Florida in Dayton, Ohio.”

Karen Wolfson, a retired teacher, spoke at the event and expressed her appreciation of MBF Child Safety Matters™, “This program truly works and the children understand the safety rules and use them,” she said. “I’ve seen it work in the classroom and, as a volunteer at the Wolfson Children’s Hospital, I have seen the tragic effects of child abuse. This foundation is worthy of your support.”

The Monique Burr Foundation for Children, Inc., started by Edward E. Burr, president and CEO of GreenPointe Holdings, is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide prevention education relevant to issues facing children today. MBF Child Safety Matters^TM is a research-based, primary prevention education program, designed to educate and empower elementary students and adults with information and strategies to prevent bullying, cyberbullying, digital abuse and all types of child abuse and exploitation. The MBF Child Safety Matters^TM curriculum is approved in 58 counties in Florida and these safety lessons have reached more than 1 million children. The foundation has trained more than 1,300 facilitators to implement the program. The program is made possible through donations, which is the foundation’s greatest need, so that every child in every public elementary school can receive this safety training.

MBF Child Safety Matters^TM continues to expand statewide as a collaborative effort with the Florida Governor’s Office, the Florida Office of the Attorney General, the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Department of Children & Families. For more information about the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, call (904) 642-0210 or visit www.mbfchildsafetymatters.org