GASP CHANGES NAME, BUT NOT IT’S MISSION “education and prevention” – 2013-07-31
By: Dorothy Markulis
G.A.S.P. began its mission to protect children in 2006 with the name Grandparents Against Sexual Predators and it is continuing that mission with a slight name change: Guardians Advocating Child Safety and Protection.
“We’re still GASP but the C for children is silent – we speak for them,” said GASP Director Debbie Reiss. “We wanted to change the name for a couple of reasons,” she said. “The name grandparents was very restricting. People thought if they weren’t grandparents they couldn’t participate. The name was not encompassing enough.”
Reiss said they wanted to keep the GASP name to honor Fran Doll, its founder, who started the group after the abduction, rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in Florida in 2005.
“Fran said she gasped when she heard the news,” Reiss explained.
This year alone, Former Pro Football player and President/CEO of Redeemed Management & Consulting, Jason Carthen, has had a chance to stand in front of nearly 6,000 students.
In July 2005, while people were prepping their barbeques for Independence Day, Larry Soper, enslaved by drug and alcohol addiction, was planning his suicide.