BRIDGETON — More than 200 sparkling blue and silver pinwheels recently adorned the Cumberland County Community Pinwheels for Prevention Garden on the lawn in front the Cumberland County Library.
The effort was a collaboration between The Exchange Club of Bridgeton and the Cumberland County Commissioners to bring attention to child abuse prevention during Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Twenty-five more pinwheels were added to the garden during an on-site ceremony.
“The National Exchange Club adopted Prevention of Child Abuse as its national project in 1979,” said Karen Horwitz, Exchange Club president. “The pinwheel garden is a new project for our club and we hope that it will be a highly visible way to bring attention to the needs of children and families in our community.”
Pinwheels added to the garden were sponsored by concerned individuals, community agencies and organizations committed to providing programs, systems, supports and interventions to ensure that every child grows up in safe, stable and nurturing environments.
Representatives from Cumberland County Administration, Cumberland County Department of Human Services, NJ Child Assault Prevention, the RE-Vision Project of the United Advocacy Group, Cumberland Cape Atlantic YMCA, the Cumberland East Office of Child Protection and Permanency, and CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates all took part in the ceremony and shared information about their programs.
Other current contributors to the garden included the South Jersey Drug Treatment Center and the Cumberland County Health Department. Cumberland East DCPP planted an additional garden in front of their offices at 275 N. Delsea Dr. in Vineland and Coldwell Banker Excel Realty partnered with the Exchange Club to plant a third pinwheel garden in front of its Vineland Office at 1100 E. Landis Ave.
Prevention initiatives in Cumberland County include suitcase/comfort bags supplied to child protection and support agencies, Shaken Baby Education Packs to new families, Baby Safe Sleep Sacks (wearable blankets to prevent SIDS) to parents of infants enrolled in Nurse-Family Partnership programs, and Positive Parenting Tips to the parents of school age children.
For more information contact the Bridgeton Exchange Club at [email protected] The mission of Exchange is to inspire communities to become better places to live. Based on the core values of family, community, and country, the club engages in a variety of community service projects in addition to child abuse prevention efforts, including support for local veterans, food for the hungry, and high school youth recognition programs.
Fourth grade students from the Bridgeton Public Charter School join Exchange Club member Barry Horwitz, left, with mallet, and Cumberland County Commissioner Joseph Sileo, right, in planting pinwheels in the Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Garden.
