Niceville and DeFuniak Springs, FL (October 28, 2022)…It’s not too early to start planning for this year’s Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center (ECCAC) Holiday season to help children in need.

This year, ECCAC is creating a toy room for their families and agency partners to “shop” for children from newborn, up to 18 years old.  Bring unwrapped gifts, and Christmas wrapping paper for the gifts, by November 30^th, or sooner. Check out gift ideas to purchase for all age groups in the events section of ECCAC’s website, www.eccac.org.  Deliver to either the Pierce Family Center in DeFuniak Springs, 336 College Avenue, or the Niceville Chamber of Commerce office, 1055 John Sims Parkway East.

ECCAC is also accepting 2022 year-end tax deductible donations. For further information or assistance with deliveries, email Ana Michalzik at ana@eccac.org to ECCAC, or call her at 850-420-4639.          

ECCAC’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect, protect children in Okaloosa and Walton Counties, and restore the lives and futures of these impacted children. Both Center’s child-friendly facilities in Niceville and DeFuniak Springs house a multidisciplinary team of child protection personnel, prosecutors, law enforcement, DCF, therapists, and ECCAC staff and volunteers. In the past 23 years, over 15,000 children have received more than 170,000 services to include mental health therapy, crisis intervention, referrals to other community providers, interviews and medicals. Services are provided at no cost by ECCAC, a 501-C-3 non-profit organization.

For further information about the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center, visit www.eccac.org. If abuse is suspected, call the anonymous Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE.