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Students Planting Pinwheels In New Canaan To Shine Light On Child Abuse

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. – Over 100 students will take part in planting 1,864 pinwheels in New Canaan and Stamford on Sunday as part of a Child Abuse Prevention Month project.

About 50 Fairfield County students will plant over 1,800 pinwheels in New Canaan and Stamford on Sunday as part of a Child Abuse Prevention Month project.

About 50 Fairfield County students will plant over 1,800 pinwheels in New Canaan and Stamford on Sunday as part of a Child Abuse Prevention Month project.

Photo Credit: www.pinwheelsforprevention.org.

“Our hope is that the Pinwheels for Prevention project will bring awareness to the serious issue of child abuse,” Shari Shapiro, executive director at Greenwich-based Kids in Crisis, said in a press release.

Each pinwheel represents one of 1,864 children reported as abused or neglected in Fairfield County last year.

“Unfortunately, many do not think abuse and neglect exist in Fairfield County, but as these numbers show, it does – and it is important for our community to be informed,” Shapiro said.

The pinwheels will be planted from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday at Vine Cottage at 61 Main St. in New Canaan, and Stamford’s Latham Park.

Members of the general public are invited to help plant the pinwheels.

The installation serves as a visible reminder that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and will remain on display for one week. 

Both plantings will be led by Kids in Crisis TeenTalk Counselors.

In New Canaan, Ed Milton, TeenTalk counselor at New Canaan High School, will be joined by more than 50 student volunteers from New Canaan High School’s Service Learning for Boys (SLOB’s) and the New Canaan National Charity League.

In Stamford, Chante Moreno, TeenTalk counselor at the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, will be joined by students from AITE, AITE Interact Club, and the Kids in Crisis Youth Corps.

The TeenTalk program places trained Kids in Crisis counselors in area middle and high schools to provide a safe, confidential outlet for students struggling with difficult circumstances and enabling students to build coping skills and, when necessary, find safe havens.

The students will also distribute informative fliers about child abuse and neglect and action steps for child abuse prevention to passersby during the day of the installations.

Kids in Crisis is Connecticut’s only free, round-the-clock agency providing intervention services, counseling, and emergency, temporary shelter for children newborn to 17 years old in Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton.

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