The Iowa State community is invited to the Ames Public Library on Wednesday, Oct. 9, for a community safety awareness program presented by B.R.A.V.E. (Be Ready Against Violence Everywhere).

This safety awareness program, called “Safety In Your Business (District),” is part of a week-long effort, “Week Without Violence,” promoted by national YMCA’s.

Topics to be discussed are street safety, business security, travel security, safety tools and self-defense. Deb Hambling, the director for the community programs, and Julie Turner, the president of the B.R.A.V.E. program, will be the speakers at the event.

Hambling said she hopes the audience will consist of business owners, working parents and employees. The focus of the whole program will be business safety.

“I hope people will become aware of violence and how it affects them in their everyday life,” Hambling said. She said she wanted those who attend to learn what to do in a situation where violence occurs.

The B.R.A.V.E. company has done their safety programs in many Iowa communities.

“The response from the smaller communities is overwhelming. They [often] do not have the resources available for the community,” Turner said. Turner added that the program often makes residents aware of what safety-related programs are available in their city.

The B.R.A.V.E. program began four years ago when Turner was taken to a self-defense class with her sister Hambling.

“Deb took me to a self-defense class. It was the best two hours of class I ever had. We just thought, ‘Maybe every other woman in America should feel this way,'” Turner said. Turner said that Hambling thought of the idea and together they started the company.

The cost to attend the event will be $2 per person. The seating for the event is limited and the first twenty-five women get a free Persuader Baton.