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ELIZABETH SMART, INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION ADVOCATE AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, TO HEADLINE CHILD RESCUE COALITION’S FOURTH ANNUAL “EAT, DRINK AND BE GIVING” GALA ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22 BOCA RATON, Fla. (January 29, 2019) - Elizabeth Smart, international child abduction advocate and New York Times best-selling author, has been announced as the keynote speaker for Child Rescue Coalition’s (CRC) fourth annual "Eat, Drink and Be Giving" Gala to be held on Friday, February 22, at 6 p.m. at the Delray Beach Marriott (10 North Ocean Boulevard). Proceeds from the evening will enhance Child Rescue Coalition’s technological developments, increase law enforcement training and rescue thousands of children from sexual exploitation and abuse. “We are honored to welcome Elizabeth Smart, a child abduction survivor and the face of bravery, hope and triumph for families, everywhere, as this year’s Child Rescue Coalition keynote speaker,” said Carly Asher Yoost, founder and CEO of Child Rescue Coalition. “In this day and age, especially, as reports of abductions and abuse continue to cross our newsfeeds, stories like Elizabeth’s need to be heard. Her strength, recovery and tireless advocacy for child sexual abuse prevention and safety is an inspiration to us all and a motivation to be even more vigilant.” The abduction of Elizabeth Smart was one of the most followed child abduction cases of our time. Despite this traumatic experience, she has become an advocate for change related to child abduction, recovery programs and national legislation. The founder of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, Smart has also helped promote The National AMBER Alert, The Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act and other safety legislation to help prevent abductions. She chronicled her experiences in the New York Times best-selling book, "My Story." In addition, she and other abduction survivors worked with the Department of Justice to create a survivors’ guide, entitled, “You're Not Alone: The Journey from Abduction to Empowerment.” Her most recent book, "Where There’s Hope," is both an up-close-and-personal glimpse into her healing process and a heartfelt how-to guide for readers to make peace with the past and embrace the future. Sponsored by TransUnion, the evening will celebrate law enforcement officers’ successful utilization of Child Rescue Coalition's Child Protection System (CPS) Technology, with an elegant dinner, awards presentation and exciting live and silent auctions. To date, CRC’s CPS Technology is used free of charge by more than 11,000 law enforcement officials in 50 states and 90 countries and has been instrumental in helping to put an end to child sexual abuse. Child Rescue Coalition has assisted in the arrest of over 11,000 child predators and the rescues of over 2,500 abused children in the last five years. Tickets start at $275 per person and are available via bit.ly/crcgala2019. For more information, please call (561) 208-9000 or visit [email protected]. About Child Rescue Coalition Child Rescue Coalition (CRC), a south Florida-based nonprofit organization with global reach, has spent the past decade building the world’s most sophisticated technology to hunt online predators. Through proactive partnerships with law enforcement, the nonprofit’s system has tracked 54 million offenders around the world in order to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. With a mission of protecting innocence through technology, the technology developed by CRC has aided in the arrest of more than 11,000 predators and rescued over 2,500 abused children in the last five years. For more information, visit childrescuecoalition.org or call (561) 208-9000.