Teens Raise Awareness of Child Neglect in Fairfield County

A community art project designed to raise child abuse awareness will take place in New Canaan and Stamford on Sunday, April 19th, from 1:00 - 2:00pm. Local students will “plant” 1,864 pinwheels on the lawns of Vine Cottage in New Canaan (61 Main Street, opposite the Fire Department) and Latham Park in Stamford. These symbols of childhood will commemorate the 1,864 children abused and neglected in Fairfield County during 2014. The installation serves as a visible reminder that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and will remain on display for one week. The general public is invited to help with the installation.

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 and Engineering (AITE), 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- enabling students to build coping skills and, when necessary, find safe havens.  

“Our hope is that the Pinwheels for Prevention project will bring awareness to the serious issue of child abuse,” said Shari Shapiro, Executive Director at Kids in Crisis. “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.”

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

Kids in Crisis (www.kidsincrisis.org) is Connecticut’s only free, round-the-clock agency providing intervention services, counseling, and emergency, temporary shelter for children newborn to 17 years old.  Since its founding in 1978, Kids in Crisis has helped more than 124,000 children and families from Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton through a unique combination of outreach, emergency services and community prevention programs.

For further information contact: Madeleine Marecki, Marketing Director, Kids in Crisis on 203 622 6556.