BEVERLY — A Beverly-based crisis counseling center for victims of domestic violence has received donations from Chicago Cubs fans uneasy with cheering the team's closing pitcher.
Each Aroldis Chapman save is followed by handful of donations to A New Direction, said Jessica McCarihan, a Beverly resident who helped launch the charity commonly known as AND in 2011.
The group provides education and legal advocacy for victims of domestic violence — mostly to women and children in the Beverly area. Its sixth-annual fundraiser is set from 7-10 p.m. Saturday at Ridge Country Club.
Tickets to the gala at 10522 S. California Ave. cost $75. The event is the main source of funding for A New Direction, which receives no government assistance, said McCarihan, who is president of the board.
Domestic violence "is definitely an issue that people are paying attention to a little bit more," she said, citing athletes such as Chapman and others who are increasingly being called out for their actions.
Indeed, Chapman was suspended 30 games this season for violating the league's domestic violence policy. The pitcher with a 105-mph fastball was acquired July 25 from the New York Yankees.
Caitlin Swieca and other Cubs fans were immediately dismayed by the move. So she pledged on Twitter to donate $10 to a domestic violence group for every Chapman save this season.
Others quickly joined Swieca's effort, spurred along by hashtags like #pitchin4DV, #saves4DV and #ChapmanChange. She even offered a list of recommended domestic violence shelters worthy of support. Named in alphabetical order, A New Direction is first on the list.
"It's such a simple idea, and when people saw it, I guess it clicked," she said.
McCarihan launched the Beverly group with the help of Rita Ryan, who previously worked with victims of domestic violence for nearly three decades within the neighborhood before her advocacy center shut down in 2008.
Ryan, also a Beverly resident, teamed with McCarihan to ensure that such services stayed in the neighborhood. This partnership remains at the center of A New Direction, which operates from an undisclosed location in Beverly.
"People think that it only happens in poor neighborhoods or because of alcoholism. There are so many misconceptions with domestic violence," McCarihan said.
She wouldn't provide local statistics for confidentiality reasons. But McCarihan cited several figures from Chicago Says No More, a city-wide campaign aimed at spreading awareness about domestic violence and bringing an end to the epidemic.
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men experience violence by their partners in their lifetimes.
• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused before age 18.
• 1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men are survivors of rape.
"So much of it goes unreported. What you are seeing is a fraction of what is happening," said McCarihan, who also raises money for the counseling center with the annual Work Out to Wipe Out Domestic Violence event.
As for the upcoming fundraiser, a grand raffle will be held as part of the gala for a chance to win airfare and five nights/six days at the Aloft Hotel South Beach or the Aloft Hotel Downtown Miami, two round-trip tickets aboard Southwest Airlines to fly anywhere in the continental United States and an Apple iPad Mini.
For more information, visit A New Direction's website or call 773-253-7226.
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