Jaycee Dugard Releases 'Just Ask Yourself To Care' PSA (WATCH)

Jaycee Lee Dugard has released her first public service announcement for her organization, which helps support families that have been the victims of abductions.

"Hi, this is Jaycee Dugard. Just ask yourself to care. If you see something that looks wrong or amiss, speak out. You might be wrong but you might just save someone's life," Dugard says in the 20-second spot for The JAYC Foundation.

Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped from a school bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on June 10, 1991. She was missing for 18 years before authorities discovered she was living in the backyard of Phillip Garrido's home in Antioch, Calif. At that time, it was also revealed that Garrido had fathered two children with Dugard.

In April, Garrido and his wife, Nancy, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and rape. Garrido was sentenced to 431 years behind bars and his wife received 36 years to life.

Dugard, who recently wrote a best-selling book about her ordeal, founded the non-profit JAYC Foundation, to help families recovering from abduction and the aftermath of traumatic experiences.

In September, Dugard filed a claim against the U.S. government for failing to monitor Garrido. A convicted sex offender, Garrido was sentenced to more than 50 years in federal and state prison for rape and kidnapping in 1977. But Garrido was paroled in 1988, three years before he abducted Dugard.

According to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the federal government bears responsibility because it did not properly supervise Garrido. The federal government was responsible for Garrido from the day he was released in 1988 until the state assumed responsibility in 1999, the complaint alleges.

Dugard's publicist, Nancy Seltzer, said Dugard is not seeking money for herself. Instead, she will donate "100 percent of whatever money she recovers" to the JAYC Foundation, which derives its name from the phrase "Just ask yourself to care."

According to the foundation's website, their goal is to "help provide the individualized assistance needed when healing from a traumatic event."

SEE PHOTOS FROM THE JAYCEE DUGARD CASE:

Comments

[john writer]

02:09 PM on 12/13/2011

God bless you, Jaycie!

[Tassajara]

10:21 AM on 11/08/2011

I cannot believe the racist comments or the views that blame her for not "getting away." People who have never had to walk in those shoes can dare to make a comment like these. I do not see this situation with Jaycee Duggard any different than that of the black slave woman who was taken from her homeland and made to bear the slave owner's children. For those that bear these stupid racist comments, you well know that it was whites who opposed this horrible treatment of slaves and why they were set free in the first place. Do you hear? There were ENOUGH WHITES with the correct frame of heart to change that horrible course of history.
If Jaycee did not leave, it is because she had no trust for anyone anywhere. Why should she with what she experienced? If she escaped, would she have been able to do this and take her children as well? We were not there, having to make life threatening decisions for herself and her children. It is amazing the narrow judgement that comes through these so called comments.

[Marcia75]

10:22 AM on 11/08/2011

Amen. I have reported many situations, rescued animals, etc in my lifetime. I am not afraid to get involved. Being a mother to a 4 yrd old, I would expect the same from my fellow humans.

I don't believe how this story played itself out........and none of the officers involved even seem remotely remorseful for their ineptness. I am very proud of the woman she was able to become through all the pain.

[southingtonian]

09:37 PM on 11/07/2011

The psychic strength she has evidenced is an ensample of survival despite mental/physical trauma inflicted over time. That she appears so whole is to me amazing and inspiring.

[hursh 4 ever]

05:15 PM on 11/07/2011

Jaycee you got me crying over here..

my cold heart bleeds with emotions when i read about Jaycee... i dont like to show emotions but its hard for me to look at her pictures knowing what she went through.

[goldbry]

03:37 PM on 11/06/2011

Are you suggesting that she lied?

[BeeJayCeee]

04:48 PM on 11/06/2011

I think he's just a racist.

[WhatASweetBegining]

04:02 PM on 11/06/2011

You have no idea what you're talking about.

[dourdinlives]

01:29 PM on 11/06/2011

i have listened to just about all i am going to listen to about young blonds who were kidnapped and stayed kidnapped for years and years without trying to get away or run away, even when they were out alone on their own..away from the kidnappers, even when the kidnappers were deep asleep, or out shopping, and even when they were in stores surrounded by scores of people they could have cried out to to help them.people please!

[WhatASweetBegining]

04:01 PM on 11/06/2011

Why don't you go grind your fingers in a blender, so we never have to read your absurd tirade again?

By the way, I think you might be a little mental, so don't literally go blend your fingers.

[hursh 4 ever]

05:07 PM on 11/07/2011

your missing the point...

[WhatASweetBegining]

04:05 PM on 11/06/2011

Go grind your fingers in a blender, so we never have to read your absurd tirade again.

[dourdinlives]

02:04 PM on 11/07/2011

the truth sure does hurt don't it.i am sticking to what i said.anyone that gets kidnapped should at least try to escape as soon as their new family hands them the car keys..or falls asleep or when they are sent out on errands alone. nuff said.

[nanners636c]

03:11 AM on 11/06/2011

You go girl. They never followed up on that man. If they had he would have been in jail and you would have been home. I am so sorry ,
Nancy M Medley

[happy ending]

06:44 PM on 11/05/2011

Jaycee is a role model for every person living in this world... when the chips are down and things are tough in your life... think of Jaycee and it'll give you hope... i know i'll think of her when i'm having a bad day.

She is truly a remarkable woman!!!

[ocenbrz]

01:58 PM on 11/06/2011

Well, I wouldn't go that far at least. She is a survivor. There were instances where she could have risked freeing herself and her child/children but didn't. It is understandable why she didn't but not something I would recommend most victims follow. Instead, what the public really needs to learn is how to get out of situations like this when they happen. Safely and without having to spend years in captivity. There were neighbors who would have helped her, if only she had learned to trust strangers more, not less.

I'm very grateful my grandmother and aunt taught me that sometimes you have to fight. That my teachers and many writers taught me that I had to plan my escape. Had I not been able to find my captors weakness' my life would have been so much worse. Still I was a victim for too long because I prayed instead of trusted others to help me. "Fear is the mindkiller." How I wish I read Frank Herbert instead of the Holy Bible. Than my ordeal would have ended that much sooner. Teachers/Law Enforcement need to be better at spotting a nervous child and than willing to ask the hard questions. Not take flimsy excuses. And parents need to be grateful if someone interrogates them. It means the cops/teachers are doing their part in exposing the bad parents and getting them some help. If you aren't one of them relax.

[ashley22]

03:03 AM on 11/08/2011

Yes she is,I feel so sorry for that poor child.

[LXIX WITHU]

06:15 PM on 11/05/2011

GOD bless her!

[Joseph Leslie]

05:53 PM on 11/05/2011

I wonder what her life would have been like if she wasn't taken! How can she ever be compensated for those lost years? What will her 2 daughters have to do to become part of society? The Garridos are monsters!

[bgatlake]

05:12 PM on 11/05/2011

how this girl kept her sanity is a miracle

[WhatWhat1]

06:28 PM on 11/06/2011

I can't imagine that she has kept her sanity. She has a long way to go and may never get all the way there.

[Kay Nicks]

04:13 PM on 11/05/2011

I have the utmost respect for Jaycee. She is a very strong, courageous young lady.
I wish her much success in her quest to bring public awareness in helping support families that have been the victims of abductions, as well as in her own personal life.

[jamisonmichalep]

03:57 PM on 11/05/2011

http://fpherj48.hubpages.com/hub/Jaycee-Dugard-A-Story-of-Strength-and-Survival

[jamisonmichalep]

03:54 PM on 11/05/2011

God Bless Jaycee & daughters!

http://fpherj48.hubpages.com/hub/Jaycee-Dugard-A-Story-of-Strength-and_survival

[whoknew222]

08:48 AM on 11/06/2011

Thanks for the link.