Sean C. Morgan
Blue pinwheels, many made by Sweet Home children, are spinning in the wind in front of the Sweet Home Police Department this month as part of a campaign to help raise awareness about child neglect and abuse.
April is child abuse awareness month, and Friday afternoon, children and members of the community planted a pinwheel garden to kick off a campaign to turn Sweet Home blue. Blue signs, ribbons and lights are available through Sweet Home Police Department.
Donations for the signs, ribbons and lights are earmarked for the ABC House, which provides a safe, respectful and healing environment for children who are victims of abuse.
Among those participating were children and staff from the Boys and Girls Club and Oak Heights. Public Works employees, through their union, planted a pinwheel garden at the maintenance shop off 24th Avenue around the Jay Rector memorial. The Kiwanis Club assisted with the program.
“Linn County ranks ninth in the state for the highest rate of abuse and neglect,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. “To me, that’s shameful and appalling.”
More than 900 children in Linn County are considered homeless, and of the 661 children referred to the ABC House in 2012, 20 percent were from Sweet Home and Lebanon, Lynn said. Last year, Linn County had 1,177 founded cases of child abuse, 48 percent with children below the age of 6.
“In Sweet Home last year, we received over 241 cases of neglect or abuse,” Lynn said. “That figure is sad for us. One abused child is one too many.”
He asked the community to stand up and take charge of those numbers.
“The pinwheels themselves represent a happy, healthy and innocent childhood,” Lynn said. “Every child throughout our nation deserves that.”
Gina Riley, community services officer, said residents should “just remember what it represents” as they see blue during April.
She urged people to speak up about suspected child abuse.
“It’s OK to be that nosy neighbor,” Riley said. “It’s OK to help a child.”
Marsha Swanson, who serves on the board of the Family Tree Relief Nursery and is a leader with the Linn County Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, said the effects of child abuse are pervasive.
“If you haven’t ever experienced abuse directly, you may not realize the profound effect it has on a person their entire life,” she said.
She urged people to be “a safe person for children.”
It doesn’t take much, Swanson said. Become a reader or a mentor.
“It can be a simple act from you that makes a difference for a child.”