‘Choose Respect’ events planned today in Palmer, Wasilla

MAT-SU — Join your neighbors in lending support to the statewide Choose Respect campaign at rallies in Palmer and Wasilla today.

Staff from the Alaska Governor’s Office will fan out across the state today to participate in Choose Respect events at more than 140 communities statewide.

Palmer is one of two communities where Gov. Sean Parnell and First Lady Sandy Parnell will participate in Choose Respect events.

Palmer will mark the day with a rally at the MTA Events Center, 1317 Kerry Weiland Way. People will meet there at 11:45 a.m. and walk through town to the Palmer Depot where speeches, including the governor’s are planned.

In Wasilla, people will meet at Newcomb Park at Wasilla Lake at the corner of Crusey Street and the Parks Highway at 11:45 a.m., today. Speeches are planned at noon.

Choose Respect is an ongoing effort led by Parnell to raise awareness about domestic violence and sexual assault.

Last year, youths from Palmer Junior Middle School and Alaska Job Corps Center far out-numbered the adults in attendance.

This year, Alaska Family Services Inc. and the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman are issuing a challenge to the Valley’s various service groups to rally their members in a friendly competition to get more adults than students at this year’s event.