Pinwheels Planted in Lincoln County for Child Abuse Prevention Month

Stanford’s Main Street is a little brighter and bluer during April, thanks to community members who planted pinwheels in front of the Lincoln County Courthouse Friday.

The pinwheels were planted for Child Abuse Prevention Month. Representatives of Stanford, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Stanford police, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Kentucky State Police, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, local judges and many other community members participated in the planting.

“The pinwheels represent the lives of children in Lincoln County who have been abused or neglected,” said Ben Kleppinger, Community Engagement Coordinator for the local Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program, which organized the event. “There’s a reason the pinwheels are bright and blue. This is an exercise in hopefulness for the future, not despair about the past.”

Stanford Mayor Dalton Miller read a proclamation naming April Child Abuse Prevention Month in Stanford during the event.

“We can build healthier, safer, and thriving communities if we take the same approach to raising families that we do to tending a community garden on a shared piece of land,” Miller said, reading from the proclamation. “… children are locally grown and have a right to be safe and to be provided an opportunity to thrive, learn and grow.”

Last year, 152 children in Lincoln County were abused or neglected, giving the county one of the highest rates of abuse and neglect per 1,000 children in the state. Speakers at Friday’s event encouraged members of the public to do something about the problem by speaking up if they suspect abuse could be occurring, signing up to be foster families, or applying to become CASA volunteers.

The pinwheels will be on display in front of the courthouse throughout April.