The Coalition Against Rape & Domestic Violence will host its first “Light the Night” on Friday at the Missouri School for the Deaf.

“Light the Night” is an event in which participants pledge a number of miles and walk to raise awareness of rape and domestic violence.

“It’s an opportunity to show that, as a community, we are aware that rape and domestic
violence is a problem,” said Keli Tate, CARDV volunteer and one of the event’s founders. “And we want it to end.”

Upon the completion of each mile, participants will place a purple bulb on a designated area of the field. The bulbs will light up a sign featuring the words, “Break the silence.” By the end of the night, there will be 1,044 bulbs, each one representing a person CARDV assisted in 2011.

As CARDV explains on its official Facebook page, each light individually only shines soft and dim, but once combined, the bulbs will shine bright and truly “light the night.”

Kelsey Saragnese, MU junior and volunteer for the Relationship & Sexual Violence Prevention Center, said she plans on attending the event.

“I like the idea of honoring all of the people that CARDV has helped,” Saragnese said. “And the image of lighting up the darkness is a beautiful one.”

Saragnese added she is proud to support CARDV because it is “an excellent organization with excellent people working to prevent violence and support victims.”

An extensive amount of planning went into organizing “Light the Night.” Funding was a particularly challenging aspect of planning the event because of the United Way blackout, Tate said.

The United Way blackout is a designated period of time during the launch of the annual
United Way campaign in which agencies that receive United Way funding are asked not to host or promote any fundraising.

“We had to organize this event with next to nothing,” Tate said.

Advertising “Light the Night” was another key component of the planning process.

“Social media played a critical role in spreading the word,” CARDV Executive Director Lori Blank said. “It enabled us to reach so many of our supporters and community members quickly.”

CARDV intends on making “Light the Night” an annual event as part of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Each year, CARDV will use the data from the previous year to determine the number of miles, and subsequently the number of bulbs, for the event.

“We’re looking forward to watching this event grow over the years,” Blank said.

Victims of rape and domestic violence will be at “Light the Night” to help spread awareness.

“Obviously the survivors won’t be sharing their personal stories because it can be quite traumatic,” Tate said. “But they will be talking about why it’s important to speak out against rape and domestic violence.”

Tate explained since the night’s subject is a sensitive one, she and the other CARDV volunteers are going to try to keep the event as “fun and upbeat” as possible with live bands and food vendors.

CARDV is expecting approximately 250 participants, but volunteers are hopeful that
more people will show up.

“We’re still looking for walkers,” Blank said. “There are many miles to be walked and spots filled, so we invite everyone to walk a mile, or five or 10.”

“Light the Night” begins at 6 p.m. and will go until all 1,044 miles have been walked.

“Something as small as a mile can have an impact greater than we could ever imagine,” Tate said.