April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and CASA of Caroline is partnering with Caroline’s Agape Project to promote awareness of child abuse prevention in Denton’s Community Garden. On April 4, CASA of Caroline, Caroline County YMCA’s Mentoring Program and Caroline County Department of Juvenile Services will be joining the Agape Project for its grand opening of the Community Garden’s 2020 growing season. The Community Garden serves as a space where people can develop gardening skills, life skills and personal responsibility while also gaining the benefits of fresh produce. It is these types of activities that build healthy Caroline County families. Healthy families raise healthy children and help put an end to child abuse.

In addition to preparing the Community Garden plots for the growing season, CASA of Caroline will be lining some of the garden paths with pinwheels in support of Pinwheels for Prevention, a national movement to change the way people think about child abuse prevention. The Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign, created by Prevent Child Abuse America, emphasizes the importance of learning about healthy child development, reinforcing positive parenting practices and taking action on behalf of the children and families in our community. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to take “extraordinary ordinary” actions to help reduce stress for families and increase resilience for kids.

Each year, more than 1,700 children in the United States die as a direct result of child abuse – that’s five children every day. We all share a responsibility to help keep children safe as we take steps to prevent child abuse from occurring in the first place. One way to prevent the abuse is to raise awareness. The pinwheel was selected as a symbol of awareness because it is a happy and uplifting token of childhood. It stands as a symbol of the hope and bright futures we want for our children. Imagine the paths of the Community Garden lined with these small beacons of hope for the children of Caroline County!

We all have a role to play in the prevention of child abuse and neglect. There are many simple things you can do every day to make a difference such as volunteering at a pre- or after-school program like the YMCA mentors, baby-sitting for an overburdened family in your neighborhood or showing your support for our nation’s children by making your own pinwheel display. Help stop child abuse. Help Caroline County families lead healthy lives. All children deserve great childhoods because children are our future. Please join CASA of Caroline in raising awareness, supporting healthy families and putting an end to child abuse. For further information on “Pinwheels for Prevention”, please visit www.preventchildabuse.org. For more ideas on raising awareness and preventing child abuse, please visit www.blueribbonproject.org or contact CASA of Caroline at 410-479-8301 or visit www.carolinecasa.org.

The Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention funded this project under sub-award number CJAC-2019-0004 and VOCA-2018-0063. All points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of any State or Federal Agency. This project is supported by a grant from the Maryland Judiciary’s Administrative Office of the Courts number AOC-G20CA0225I.