April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and so the Columbia County Exchange Club has partnered again with Child Enrichment Inc. Augusta organization to make its annual, public display to raise awareness of both local abuse cases and the means to fight it.
Thursday morning, representatives from both organizations met at Mullins Crossing in Evans, in front of Chick-fil-A and Ruby Tuesday, to place 295 pinwheels for passersby along Washington Road to see.
“Pinwheels are to represent what childhood should be: fun, free from abuse, just having that opportunity to be a kid play with toys,” said Kari Viola-Brooke, executive director of Child Enrichment. “So we use that symbol nationally to recognize child abuse prevention and awareness.”
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Alongside the display, the Exchange Club presented a $10,000 donation to the organization to help fund its efforts in child prevention. The club has raised some $145,000 for Child Enrichment since their partnership over at least 20 years.
Each pinwheel represents a reported case of child abuse or neglect in Columbia County in the past year, a stat that Viola-Brooke noted as “very surprising” for the child advocacy organization.
“There’s some months where Columbia County has more cases at Child Enrichment than Richmond County does,” she said. “So that number and the need for services right here in Columbia County is growing more and more each year, and we’re just fortunate that we have partners like the Exchange Club, where we’re able to provide these services.”
Child Enrichment, which launched in 1978, will continue to observe the month with other events, such as its Heroes for Hope 5K Walk and Run on April 19. The nonprofit also calls for more people to donate their time, particularly for court appointed special advocates, or CASA volunteers.
“We need people to step up and be that voice for kids in the court system and help them ensure that they have a safe and permanent home,” said Viola-Brooke. “We know if a kid has a CASA volunteer, they’re going to spend half as long as they normally would in the foster care system. So as a community, we need to care about that. Kids are the future of our community. So if we want to have a really strong future, we need to have strong childhood.”
Child Enrichment Inc. is located at 2300 Walden Dr. in Augusta.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
