Physician Tells High School Students The Truth About "Safe Sex."

November 1--Husband, father of three and busy physician in private practice, you are a tireless voice for truth in the battle to overcome the purveyors of the failed "safe sex" message and the sinister profiteers of the abortion industry.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo Medical School and board certified internist with 15 years of clinical experience, you have served as a leading spokesman for MFI’s Massachusetts Physicians Resource Council and for the nationwide Consortium of State Physicians Resource Council, which represents more than 2,000 member-physicians throughout the United States.

You have volunteered countless hours of your time to the Physicians’ Resource Council, at considerable personal sacrifice, to tell the truth about sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy to hundreds of high school students across this Commonwealth. Wherever you speak, the message you bring is consistent: life is sacred; sexual abstinence outside of marriage has emotional, physical and moral value; and immoral behavior often has devastating medical consequences. This is a message that you present convincingly, with medical facts, and with great compassion.

You have also carried this message to some of society’s gatekeepers. Again representing the Massachusetts Physicians’ Resource Council, you recently testified before the Massachusetts State Legislature on related medical issues. Earlier this year, you joined two U.S. representatives at a major Capitol Hill press conference to critique state use, or in the case of Massachusetts, to expose state misuse, of federal funds allocated to the states to promote abstinence. And you have played a valuable role in taking this message to your colleagues; because of your considerable professional credibility, you had the opportunity to be one of only a handful of peer-reviewers for a major study released this past January on adolescent pregnancy, birth and abortion.

Dr. Diggs, we recognize you, and honor you, for your commitment to promoting sound, evidence-based public health policy. Your courageous voice and winsome manner are desperately needed to counter the dangerous and erroneous safe-sex message, which some callously preach to our youth. We salute your invaluable contribution, your integrity, and your commitment to proclaiming the truth in love to adults and young people alike. Thank you.

Registered Nurse Convinces School Committee To Reject Condoms for Students

Pat Stewart, devoted wife and mother, registered nurse and concerned citizen, you have dared to stand up and speak out for truth and the welfare of our youth.

In the 1970s, you first spoke out at a school committee meeting and made the case, as a mother, nurse and taxpayer that issues such as sex education belong not in the schools but at home. You argued that it is in the home that parents are able to exercise their right to raise their children as they deem appropriate and to transmit their values to their children. Others vehemently disagree. At the conclusion of that meeting nearly 30 years ago, one teacher confronted you, proclaiming that the school would take your children, remove your values and teach your children anything it wanted, without regard or respect for you as a parent. 

Those bold and arrogant "fighting words" kindled a fire inside you that continues to bum to this day. It was that fire blazing forth again, fueled by your faith-based convictions, that prompted you to go before the Nauset Regional School Board last year and this year to oppose a condom distribution program in the high school. Before making your case to the board, you diligently did your homework: you discovered that the local classroom based sexuality programs had the strong ideological stamp of groups such as Planned Parenthood, which seek to encourage abortion and sexual activity among our children; you also documented a similar "safe-sex," pro-abortion bias in the state educational curriculum framework for health. After hearing your findings and the testimony of parents, the school committee was persuaded to reject the condom availability program for the Nauset Regional Schools.

Pat, tonight we honor you for your passion for truth and for acting on your convictions. We applaud you for your diligence, perseverance and vigilance for your fellow citizens, and we thank you for your courage, compassion and commitment on behalf of families.

Father Starts "Father Daughter Valentine Dances" Which Are Now Nationwide

James and Natalie Massery, you are a shining example of the ripple principle: an unpretentious and humble splash that has made waves.

James – devoted husband, father of three children, businessman, and Pittsfield city councilor, you heard a Focus on the Family radio broadcast in 1993 that changed your life and surely the lives of countless others. You learned how crucial it is for a father to build his daughter’s self-esteem through a strong, healthy relationship with her so that she does not seek inappropriate masculine love elsewhere that will cause great pain and heartache. That truth convicted your heart, and you offered a simple prayer: "Lord, give me an idea that will help my relationship with my daughter Marisa, and also, Lord, if possible, let me share it with other fathers." Immediately, God answered, giving you the idea of holding a Father-Daughter Valentine Dance.

Natalie – devoted wife, mother, teacher and tireless volunteer, you encouraged James and led a team of volunteers to do everything necessary to make this special evening possible, and you have done so for the past seven years.

At the dance, in teaching their daughters how a gentleman behaves on a date, fathers set high standards for relationships with other men to follow. Preparing for the evening is also an opportunity for mothers and daughters to spend time together strengthening their relationship. Along the way, sons glimpse from their fathers how they ought to treat women. Moreover, father figures serve as positive role models and accompany girls without fathers.

There were 300 attendees at the first dance. The annual event has grown to sell-out crowds numbering over 1,000 and has been hailed as the hottest ticket in Pittsfield in the minds of countless little girls who are thrilled to have a date with dad. The dance has also sparked voluntarism in Pittsfield as retirees, mothers, clergy, schools and businesses all assist in this successful event. Father-Daughter Valentine Dances now take place annually in more than 100 communities in over 30 states coast-to-coast.

James and Natalie, we express our gratitude to you both for providing a handrail to our daughters, helping them to keep their moral footing on the pressure-packed stairway of life. 

Entire Family Adopts, Protects Foster Children

You are indeed fulfilling your stated mission: turning the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. We honor you for your compassion for families, your courage to confront creatively and effectively the issue of family relationships, and your commitment to upholding the institution of the family.

Tonight we honor an entire family that exemplifies loving, solution-oriented outreach to children – the Richardson family. Theirs is a story of how compassion and mercifulness are handed down from one generation to the next to such a remarkable degree that these characteristics have become part of their family’s very identity. As a manifestation of this compassion, this family has a long history of caring for foster children while raising their own children to be caregivers as well.

Richard and Jestina Richardson, as parents you had the awesome task of raising five girls of your own. But over the years you found room enough in your hearts to welcome into your home more than 50 foster children coming from crisis situations. Your dedication to children in need has extended beyond the walls of your home – Reverend Richardson, as president and CEO of Children’s Services of Roxbury, an agency that provides foster care, adoption, family day care and scattered-site housing to homeless parents and their children, and Jestina as executive director of Dorchester’s United Homes for Children, Inc., an organization promoting foster care and adoption, while operating transitional programs for adults recovering from substance abuse and a shelter for homeless men.

The Richardson daughters grew up in a home where Christian ministry meant word and deed. When they left home, married and started families of their own, they continued the family tradition of embracing children in need, through foster parenting and adoption. Karen, one of the five Richardson daughters, and her husband Lynn, both present tonight to accept this award, you are the proud parents of nine children. In the early years of your marriage, you adopted two sets of twins. God then blessed you with four more children. And when Karen’s mother told you about a little girl who needed a home, you opened your arms, made room for one more, and adopted number nine! All of your four sisters are married, have children of their own but have also served as a foster parents two have also adopted children. That is certainly a remarkable legacy of caring and service.

Karen and Lynn, yours is an extended family that has opened its door to those in need. We are so very blessed and challenged by your example of mercy and love. You are a true example of what a loving family is meant to be. Thank you
 

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