Community leaders throughout Independence Township gathered at the Clarkston Community Schools Administration building where they kicked off the Clarkston Area Youth Assistance’s annual Pinwheels for Prevention program. Photo by Megan Kelley.

By Megan Kelley
Clarkston News Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE — Last Thursday, community members, leaders and volunteers gathered at the Clarkston Community Schools Administration building for the Clarkston Area Youth Assistance’s Pinwheels for Prevention Community Kick Off.
Hosting the event was Judy Parnes, Program Chair for Pinwheels for Prevention.
“Pinwheels for Prevention, or April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, is part of a nationwide campaign that is run by Prevent Child Abuse America which is the largest nonprofit organization on that subject. When people hear April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, we tend to concentrate on just the words ‘child abuse’ instead of the word ‘prevention’ and we tend to want to react to it,” Parnes said. “April is Child Abuse Prevention Month began nationally in 1983 and then they came up with the pinwheels as a symbol in 2008. The symbol is about the promise for children, that they would have childhoods of kindness. To me, it was always about a promise – more than a promise. Also, Prevent Child Abuse America, this large organization, they’re now recognizing that there are all kinds of maltreatment and adversity.”
Attendees heard from three speakers including CAYA Caseworker Lauren Kloss; Director of Student Growth, Well-Being and Community Partnerships for CCS, Staci Puzio; and Julie Meredith from Clarkston Independence District Library.
CCS Superintendent Dr. Shawn Ryan also spoke about the importance of community support for children.
“One of the things that drew me and kept me in Clarkston is that idea that this community wraps its arms around our children,” Ryan said. “We know a couple things about children; that when they have a traumatic experience from when they were born to age 18, it follows them for the rest of their lives – their health, their well-being, their relationships, everything is affected by it. We know anything you can do to step in between to help support them throughout that time and through those years to give them a positive experience makes a world of difference not only for that child, but for that child’s children, their neighbors, the community as a whole – it matters to all of us how we treat and develop our kids.”
CAYA is spreading awareness of Pinwheels for Prevention throughout the month of April and are raising money by encouraging Clarkston to support the cause by donating and displaying the blue pinwheels throughout the community.
Pinwheels can be purchased from CAYA online at caya-mi.org/pinwheels-for-prevention and picked up at the Clarkston Independence District Library.
For more information contact the Clarkston Area Youth Assistance at 248-623-4313.