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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

ALABASTER – The second annual Pinwheels for Prevention will soon be held at Veterans Park in Alabaster and will give families an opportunity to enjoy various activities and learn more about child abuse awareness and prevention.

Pinwheels for Prevention will be held on Saturday, April 15 from 10 a.m. to noon in honor of April being National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

During the free event, various activities will be offered for children to enjoy such as kite flying, hula-hoops, balls and blowing bubbles.

“The kids can be having fun while the adults are moving around and finding out about more organizations in the community that help children,” said Jo Davis, chairperson with the Parent Involvement and Skill Committee with the Shelby County Children’s Policy Council.

Davis said the goal of the event is to inform the community on child abuse awareness and prevention.

“We’re going to give away different books to let children know about what’s okay and what’s not okay and who to reach out to for help if something inappropriate is happening,” Davis said. “We have books in English and in Spanish because we just want to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of abuse and how to get help for abuse.”

Pinwheels are the national symbol for child abuse prevention and will be on display around the event and will be given to children.

“Pinwheels (are) about children being able to enjoy their youth,” Davis said. “That’s why we have the kites, we’re going to have the hula-hoops (and) the balls because we want children to have fun and really represent, as the pinwheels do, a healthy childhood for kids.”

The following organizations will be present and giving away resources at the event:

• Owens House/Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center
• Big Brothers and Big Sisters
• Alabaster Police Department
• Central Alabama Wellness
• CASA of Shelby County
• CHIPS Center/Children’s of Alabama
• Vineyard Family Services
• Family Guidance Center
• HICA-Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama
• NAMI Shelby
• Foster Coalition,
• Bikers Against Child Abuse
• Alabama Department of Public Health-ALL Kids,
• Alabama Department of Public Health-Family Health Services

More information on the Shelby County Children’s Policy Council can be found on its official Facebook page.