On Tuesday, March 10, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) held our annual advocacy day at the State Capitol.

Each year, we invite youth-serving organizations to attend and use the opportunity to network with lawmakers and others who might be visiting the Capitol during one of the busiest days of the legislative session. The event provides an amazing chance for them to promote the work they each do to benefit children in our state.

We also ask each program to make a pot of chili, and we have this also serve as a competition between the organizations, because one of the things I learned over my 31 years of working in and around that building is that people enjoy the opportunity for a meal if they are too busy to leave.

I am pleased to report that we had 34 programs set up and that many chili entries for the competition. The competition was fierce, but Sunbeam Family Services won first place, the Cherokee Nation got second, and St. Francis Ministries placed third. The People’s Choice winner, determined by donations, was True Wireless.

The best themed entry was the Oklahoma Primary Care Association, named through votes cast by lawmakers and their executive/legislative assistants. The best entry by a public servant went to Reps. John Waldron and Mickey Dollens with their team effort.

This was the first year we were inside the Capitol for the cook-off; in past years, we held the event in the Capitol parking lot. The only hiccup we faced with moving the event inside was the overload to the electrical system. We feel confident we have a fix for next year’s event.

We are very grateful to our chili judges, each of whom sampled each of the entries, which could not have been an easy task even with all of them being delicious. Each year, we ask members of the different courts in Oklahoma to do this over their lunch hour. We were honored to have Supreme Court Justices Noma Gurich and Dana Kuehn participate, along with Judges Thad Balkman, Nichole Gillett, Natalie Mai and Sheila Stinson.

Of course, in line with the fun, we had a purpose: to help the participants “break the ice” to meet lawmakers and those who make the process of the capitol operate smoothly. I heard from most of the folks in attendance how valuable the day was for them to promote all that they do for children, and we hope to continue growing this event in years to come.

Additionally, we used this opportunity to invite folks to come to the Capitol and serve as citizen lobbyists to promote ideas that they would like to see become law from the multiple bills going through the process which would improve the lives of children, or in contrast, voice concerns over an issue which they feel might not feel are being addressed properly. Thank you to all who joined us! It was great seeing so many attend in support, including members of the OICA’s leadership program, Advocacy Boot Camp.

I want to thank those organizations who registered and participated, which include the winners listed above, along with Conscious Community Strategies, DentaQuest / Liberty Dental Plan, OKCare, the Center for Children & Families, CREOKS Health Services, Peppers Ranch Foster Commu- nity, Southern Plains Tribal Health Board, Reach Out & Read, Pioneer Library System, the Oklahoma Education Association, the Oklahoma Office of Family Representation, the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness, Count Me In 4 Kids, the Cherokee Nation, The PATH Children’s Advocacy Center, the Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association, Mindful Resolutions, TRC – The Recovery Center, Kiwanis – Downtown OKC, the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, Rococo on Western, New World Comic Super Hero School, Pivot, Birthright Living Legacy and Oklahoma Complete Health.

If you have a youth-serving organization that would like to be a part of this next year, make plans now for mid-March in 2027 to join the fun, fellowship and advocacy effort!

— The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. The OICA’s mission statement is: “Creating awareness, taking action and changing policy to improve the health, safety and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”