Elizabeth Smart is Women Helping Women speaker

Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped as a child and now advocates worldwide for children’s safety, will be the 2012 Women Helping Women Fund Luncheon speaker in Spokane on May 21. Women Helping Women, a Spokane nonprofit, raises thousands of dollars each year at its luncheon and supports programs for women and children in need. The luncheon has attracted high profile speakers in its 20-year existence, including Naomi Judd last year. Smart, who now attends Brigham Young University where she’s majoring in music, was held prisoner for nine months, in 2002 and 2003, after being kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home. In 2010, she testified against her captor. She now speaks worldwide about child safety issues through the Elizabeth Smart Foundation and is also a correspondent for ABC News. For more information on the luncheon, go to www.whwfspokane.org.