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10th annual Pinwheels event recognizes April as Child Abuse Prevention Month
STRUTHERS
The challenge is to raise awareness any way possible about child abuse and neglect, said Jim Tressel, president of Youngstown State University and keynote speaker at the 10th annual Pinwheels for Prevention event to recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
To illustrate, Tressel asked people in the audience to raise pinwheels from their table centerpiece and have their pictures taken to spread awareness via Twitter.
The Pinwheels for Prevention breakfast Wednesday, sponsored by Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley’s Child Advocacy Center and the Mahoning County Children Services Board, was at The Embassy banquet facility.
Tressel said he wanted to leave the audience with a thought of a fictitious character in a book, “The Travelers Gift” by Andy Andrews, his favorite author, who opined that the “The Greatest Generation” was not the generation that is revered for raising itself up and dropping everything to do what the world needed: fight in World War II.
Instead, said Tressel, the fictitious character believes the greatest generation is the one that taught “The Greatest Generation” to be unselfish and care for one another.
Child abuse and neglect can’t go on, Tressel said.
“When we’re long gone, what will they write about us? Will we be thought of as the generation that made a difference by building the foundation and culture that will finish the job. We have to take care of our children,” he said.
During the Pinwheels event, Making Kids Count, was recognized for its services with the Community Spotlight Award; and proclamations from Youngstown Health Commissioner Erin Bishop and the Mahoning County commissioners were presented to Mahoning County Children Services.
Making Kids Count has a number of programs, including its Diaper Bank and New-Born Bundles, aimed at providing parents with some extra help in providing everyday necessities for their children.
Making Kids Count distributes more than 7,000 diapers a month to its partner agencies to distribute to families in need.
The newborn baby bundles contain necessities such as blankets, washcloths, lotions, shampoos and sippy cups for new mothers.
The East High School Junior ROTC, which helped plant 1,352 pinwheels at Akron Children’s Beeghly Campus last week, representing the number of reported cases of child abuse and neglect in Mahoning County in 2014, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and Anna Dell’Arco of Struthers High School sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”