Pinwheels for Prevention makes April return

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April 2, 2010

Punxsutawney Phil emerges in Pennsylvania every February to predict the end of winter.  The buzzards return to Hinckley, Ohio each March, a sure sign spring is at hand.

In Richland County, the return of bright blue pinwheels in April is an indication area residents are once again committing to the prevention of local child abuse and neglect.

"Pinwheels for Prevention" is scheduled for April 15 at 9:30 a.m. on the spacious lawn of the Richland County Administration building, 50 Park Ave. East, in downtown Mansfield, an annual event marking National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

On that date, Richland County Children services employees and many volunteers will join forces to place 2,748 pinwheels on the lawn, each one signifying one of the record number of investigations the agency conducted into suspected child abuse and neglect in 2009.

It will be a colorful, yet sobering, sight. Those investigations represented a 29 percent increase over 2008 and were 26 percent more than the agency's previous high. They are the result of a record number of calls (7,274) to the agency in 2009.

The official upbeat title for the campaign is "Pinwheels for Prevention -- Winds of Change: It's Your Turn to Raise the Leaders of Tomorrow." But local residents also know each pinwheel also represents a child who may have been abused or neglected in 2009.

"We want to do everything we can to educate county residents about child abuse and neglect," said Carl Hunnell, communications supervisor for RCCS. "Education about the problem, along with information about local services, are the keys to prevention and to protecting children.

"At the same time, we think it's appropriate to create a graphic display for the community that there are literally thousands of children in Richland County who are suffering today through no fault of their own," he said.

The agency is looking for schools, service organizations and individual volunteers to participate in the event and help place the pinwheels into the ground.

"We would like to involve as many segments of the community as possible," Hunnell said. "Child abuse and neglect is not just a Mansfield problem, an Ontario problem or a Lexington problem. It's a problem that crosses all geographic, racial and socio-economic boundaries."

For more information on the event or to volunteer to help, call Greg Kahl at RCCS at 419-774-1661.

 

 

 

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