By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center is asking for the community’s help to win up to $40,000 in the Wind Creek Hospitality Partners in Progress video contest.

The nonprofit with the highest number of votes on May 31 will receive $40,000. An additional six nonprofits will receive a lesser amount. The total combined amount awarded will be $125,000.

Community members can vote once a day to bolster the nonprofit’s score.

Executive director Jana Zuelzke encouraged setting a reminder to vote daily. To vote for Butterfly Bridge, click here and enter your email address before clicking the vote button.

Butterfly Bridge serves children who have been victims of sexual abuse, severe physical abuse and those who have witnessed a violent crime through forensic interviews, counseling and other family support services as their cases moves through the legal system.

Zuelzke said the video, Allie’s Story, is one the nonprofit has used in the past to promote its mission.

“We actually had a young lady who is a child abuse survivor, who reached out to us at a time when she felt that she had healed from what happened to her, and she was old enough to make that decision,” Zuelzke said. “She basically said she wanted to start speaking out about her experiences and all that the community and we had done for her and help her in her life. I call her the star of the mission video because she was phenomenal.”

The video was filmed by Big Dreamz Creative, who went on to enter it in some national video contests and won awards for it.

Funds would be equally split among the three locations of Butterfly Bridge — Chilton, Elmore and Autauga — to fund the family advocacy program.

“The family advocacy services — they are really at the core of what we do because they are the constant support that we give to the family throughout the entire process of the investigation of the case goes through the court system,” Zuelzke said. “It would allow our staff to do more as far as the emotional support, the education, the court accompaniment piece that we do here.”

The family advocate also looks for resources the family may need beyond what is offered by Butterfly Bridge, including basic necessities.

Each location has a family advocate.

The contest is open to nonprofits in Alabama and northern Florida. Zuelzke said there are more than 90 nonprofits participating.

“We are competing against very large nonprofits,” Zuelzke said. “We are considered pretty small and rural. It would go a long way to help us continue that program.”