Staff Report
Dozens of pinwheels filled a lawn at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Building on April 6 as the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center noted Child Abuse Prevention month.
Each of the 132 pinwheels represented five reported cases of child abuse, or 660 total reports, from the Santa Ynez Valley and elsewhere in mid-Santa Barbara County. The center held similar events in Lompoc and Santa Maria.
Pinwheels serve as a visual reminder of child abuse and the 1,990 cases that were investigated in the North County in 2017.
April has been designated Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States since 1983.
“The ultimate goal is to raise awareness,” said the center’s executive director, Ann McCarty, who said that 1,990 cases of child abuse were investigated in the North County in 2017.
Research shows that a report of child abuse is filed every 10 seconds in America, involving more than 7.2 million children each year.
In Solvang, about 30 directors of the center, agency partners, dignitaries, and local supporters attended the pinwheel ceremony.
People Helping People of the Santa Ynez Valley also partnered with College School District for a similar event, planting a blue pinwheel garden near the Santa Ynez School gym.
The center is a nonprofit organization based in Lompoc that helps victims of sexual assault and child abuse and their families in Santa Maria, Lompoc and the Santa Ynez Valley. Help includes advocacy, referrals, accompaniment and both individual and group counseling. For more information, go to www.sbcountyrapecrisis.org.
