Michigan advocate for women and children gets 2008 Sunshine Peace Award

Cathy Church, an Upper Peninsula advocate for protecting women and children from domestic violence, recently received the 2008 Sunshine Peace Award.

As an assistant prosecutor, Church put many abusers in jail.

The northern Michigan attorney has a long history of ongoing public service.

A longtime prosecutor of domestic abusers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Cathy Church (center) receives Peace Award from Doris Buffett (right) on August 9, 2008 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The Sunshine Lady Foundation was established in 1996 through the vision and determination of Doris Buffett, the sister of financier and philanthropist, Warren Buffett.

Church was honored as one of twenty extraordinary individuals who have worked in the domestic violence field and made a positive difference in the lives of battered women and their children.

Candidates for the prestigious award are selected from across the nation for excellence in developing resources and facilitating the social change necessary to end violence against women and children.