VALDOSTA, GA – Valdosta City Hall lawn will soon be covered with 887 spinning pinwheels which will be on display during the month of April in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Each of the 887 pinwheels placed on the Valdosta City Hall lawn will each represent a report of child abuse in Lowndes County in 2013.
In conjunction with Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) Lowndes County, the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) and the Flower Gallery, the Blue Ribbon and Pinwheel Campaign’s official kick-off will take place Friday, March 28 by placing pinwheels and hanging blue bows on light posts in downtown Valdosta. PCA is asking that every community member ‘awaken’ and advocate for the health and well-being that every child fundamentally deserves.
The 18th Annual Blue Ribbon Campaign will feature Mayor John Gayle presenting the proclamation. The keynote speaker, Terri Jenkins, Executive Director of the South Georgia chapter of The American Red Cross, will share her story of overcoming adversity having been a survivor of child abuse. Elaine Grice, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Director for the Alapha Judicial Circuit will also speak to the importance and impact of her program.
The pinwheel represents PCA Lowndes County’s efforts to change the way our community thinks about prevention, focusing on community activities and public policies that prioritize healthy child development and ensure that child abuse and neglect never occur. It is part of the national Pinwheels for Prevention® campaign that has seen more than 2.3 million pinwheels – the new national symbol for child abuse prevention – distributed since April 2008 was first started here in Lowndes County.
PCA Lowndes County is a local chapter of PCA America. PCA America was founded in 1972 and works to ensure the healthy development of children nationwide while recognizing that child development is a building block for community development and economic development.
For more information, please visit www.pinwheelsforprevention.org, www.caclowndes.org and www.preventchildabuse.org.
Source: CAC Press Release
