The Jana's Campaign Summer 2020 newsletter is now available here. 

Hays, KS – Jana’s Campaign is delighted to announce a $4,000 grant to expand our prevention education efforts throughout Ellis County, through the generous support of the Heartland Community Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. This grant will allow for an extension of our successful work to reduce teen dating violence through prevention education, including bystander intervention trainings, virtual faculty trainings, and the development of prevention programs for K-5th grade students.
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As Jana’s Campaign works to reduce gender and relationship violence, it is clear that an in-depth, comprehensive prevention education strategy must take priority. Nationally, one in three adolescents report being hit, slapped, stalked, sexually assaulted, or emotionally abused by a dating partner (CDC, 2017). Studies show that violent behaviors typically begin between the ages of 12 and 18, then escalate. Assessment from our own work in Kansas confirms these statistics. This grant will allow us to further expand leadership development strategies into our violence prevention programming in Ellis County.
Strengthening student leaders’ knowledge and skills can further empower students to increase their ability to recognize warning signs of gender violence, promote healthy relationship behaviors, and establish a peer culture where social norms are supportive and include active bystander behaviors that confront bullying and gender violence.
 
“We are excited and honored that the Heartland Community Foundation continues to invest in our work and the mission of preventing gender and relationship violence,” said Kaiti Dinges, Jana’s Campaign Executive Director. “The approach and focus of Jana’s Campaign is on prevention education. We believe that education is the most powerful tool to create social change. Through education, students can change and improve social attitudes, behaviors, interactions, and norms.”
 
The Heartland Community Foundation was founded on September 6th, 2007, to serve as a vehicle for charitable giving benefiting the Ellis, Rooks and Trego Counties. Their mission is to enhance quality of life, today and in the future, by:

• Enabling donors to fulfill their charitable desires,
• Building a permanent endowment,
• Facilitating prudent management and care of funds,
• Meeting needs through grants, awards, and scholarships.

 
To learn more, please visit http://heartlandcommunityfoundation.org/

The Winter 2020 Jana's Campaign newsletter is now available for viewing here. 

“We are very excited to announce that Kaiti Dinges has been promoted from Assistant Director to Executive Director of Jana’s Campaign” says Curt Brungardt, Jana’s Campaign co-founder. “She has been an outstanding violence prevention educator and she will be a great administrator as well.”

Dinges holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Fort Hays State University. She has served as a staff member of Jana’s Campaign since 2016, starting as an Education & Prevention Specialist. “I am so very humbled and excited to lead this organization,” Dinges said. “We play a significant role in reducing gender and relationship violence through prevention education, which is provided to elementary, middle, and high schools, colleges and universities, and in communities. This social disease can be eradicated, and I am eager to continue the mission of Jana’s Campaign to do so.”
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Jana’s Campaign is a national education and gender violence prevention organization located in Hays, Kansas. Jana’s Campaign was created in honor of Jana Mackey who lost her life to violence perpetrated by an ex-boyfriend in 2008. Mackey, a Hays High School graduate, was a law student at the University of Kansas and had spent years herself volunteering and helping victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Lawrence, Kansas.

​Hays, KS- Jana’s Campaign, a Hays-based national education and violence prevention organization with the single mission of reducing gender and relationship violence, hosted their annual Empty Place at the Table Gala at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall in Hays on Saturday, November 2nd.
 
This annual event brings together Jana’s Campaign’s supporters, donors, and friends to celebrate the prevention education work being done across the state and beyond. With 250 people in attendance, nearly $80,000 was raised to ultimately make our world a safer place.
 
“Empty Place at the Table is our largest fundraising event, and it continues to grow each and every year, says Kaiti Dinges, executive director of Jana’s Campaign. “I am continually blown away by the support we receive from the Hays community and beyond. With this support, we are able to reach thousands of preteens, teens, and young adults, working to prevent violent and unhealthy relationship behaviors before they start.”  
 
The evening features a festive cocktail hour, dinner, live entertainment, a raffle, along with both a silent and live auction. Businesses throughout the community and state donated items and experiences to support the event. Jana’s Campaign celebrated impacting over 69,000 students from 600 middle and high schools across nine states. All of the numbers reflect work completed since 2013, when Jana’s Campaign formalized their data collection processes.
 
“To honor Jana with a room full of people who understand why prevention of gender-based violence is so important, and who are fully committed to making a difference is unbelievably inspiring,” shared Christie Brungardt, Jana’s mom and organization co-founder. “We will be able to accomplish great things with the funds raised at the gala this year.” 

This position has been filled. 

(Hays, KS) - This week welcomed October and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). For many, you may stop reading right here, simply because you may think, “this issue does not pertain to me.” The truth is, it does pertain to you. Why? Because you are the friend, partner, brother, sister, mother, father, grandparent, co-worker, neighbor of someone who is a victim of domestic violence. One in four women and one in nine men will be the victim of domestic violence at some point in their lifetime, and, on average, three women are killed every day at the hands of a current or former intimate partner.

​Domestic violence is one of society’s largest problems and it hides in plain sight. DVAM is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of these issues and share resources. Jana’s Campaign is a national education and violence prevention organization with the single mission of reducing gender and relationship violence. This month, we are asking our community to learn 5 new things about domestic violence and share that information with those in your community.

“Domestic Violence is a serious issue in our country, state, and community. The only way we can create a culture that does not accept violence, is to become educated and then talk about it. We encourage you to get comfortable talking about the uncomfortable. You don’t have to be an expert to make a difference – you just have to be aware of the factors that can contribute to violence,” shares Kaiti Dinges, Executive Director of Jana’s Campaign.

​Jana’s Campaign has pledged to provide information on our social media accounts about the multiple forms domestic violence can take and the severity of the isse throughout the month of October. Please follow Jana’s Campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to learn more. 

Hays, KS – Jana’s Campaign is pleased to announce that the Hays, Kansas based national education & prevention organization has received a $10,000 grant from Human Investment, the foundation of The Jensen Project of Dallas, Texas. “We are so grateful for the support we receive from The Jensen Project. The mission of The Jensen Project and Jana’s Campaign are directly associated through primary prevention efforts. We are proud and excited to build a partnership with The Jensen Project to reduce gender and relationship violence,” stated Kaiti Dinges, Interim Executive Director, Jana’s Campaign.

Through the mission of Jana’s Campaign, we are dedicated to helping middle and high schools, and youth organizations reduce gender and relationship violence by promoting healthy relationship behaviors to ultimately create a culture of strong respect among adolescents. We utilize prevention programs, including curricular and co-curricular activities, to raise awareness of the underlying causes by highlighting the ‘red flags’ of dating relationships.

​The Jensen Project is a social awareness initiative committed to encouraging empathy in young children by providing them with the tools and resources needed to teach them compassion in various areas of their lives. Janet Jensen, founder and CEO of The Jensen Project and Human Investment, recognizes the urgency of reaching children as early as possible and ensuring the next generation of students are prepared to handle a changing culture. To learn more about The Jensen Project’s efforts, visit www.thejensenproject.com. 

In a 2016 national survey on Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence, 69% of 12 - 18 year old youth reported current or past relationship violence victimization, and 63% relationship violence perpetration. A recent study published by the American Medical Association confirms these statistics and furthers the conversation about Intimate Partner Homicides in Adolescents.

Overwhelmingly, violence in a teen relationship is caused by jealousy, or due to a broken or desired relationship. Teen dating violence includes behaviors such as psychological or emotional abuse, sexual violence, and physical violence.

Prevention education is necessary to end this crisis. Teaching preteens and teens what emotional violence looks like is where prevention can begin. Physical and sexual violence might occur, but teen dating violence is typically more subtle than that. It is a partner using put downs, verbal abuse and calling them names. It is feeling isolated from family and friends. It is constant phone calls and text messages checking in on location. Emotional abuse can be difficult to identify which is why prevention education must take place in schools and youth community organizations.

This past June, Huffington Post published an article focusing on the issue of teen dating violence and prevention education. This article is an important read for parents, teachers, counselors, health-care providers, and legislators. Every community needs to be educated on the severity of this issue and how we can all work together to prevent the violence before it starts. To read the article, visit this link.
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Jana's Campaign provides prevention education in elementary, middle, and high schools, and youth organizations to reduce gender and relationship violence by promoting healthy relationship behaviors to ultimately create a culture of strong respect among adolescents. Utilizing prevention programs, including curricular and co-curricular activities, we raise awareness of the underlying causes by highlighting the ‘red flags’ of dating relationships to ultimately stop violence before it starts. Contact us at 785-656-0324 or janascampaign@gmail.com to get started today.