Pinwheels for Prevention is a nationwide public awareness campaign. Pinwheels for Prevention was created by Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America) and its state chapters. More than just an awareness campaign, the goal of Pinwheels of Prevention is to engage people in taking action to prevent abuse and neglect from happening in the first place.

Pinwheels: The Symbol of Child Abuse Prevention
The campaign is built around the symbol of the pinwheel. Pinwheels are a happy and uplifting token of childhood. They represent PCA America’s efforts to change the way our nation thinks about prevention and are the centerpiece of the growing movement of people and organizations committed to stopping child abuse before it starts.

Insight gained through recent social marketing research, conducted by FrameWorks Institute for Prevent Child Abuse America, has caused us to take another look at how we talk about prevention and the tools we use to present our message to the public.

The Blue Ribbon has been, and will continue to be, successfully used as a national symbol of child abuse awareness. Our goal, however, is to steer focus away from the problem of child abuse toward the solutions of effective prevention. To accomplish this, we are promoting another symbol, a Pinwheel.  The pinwheel is reflective of the bright future all children deserve and our belief that getting it right early on is less costly than trying to fix it later.

It's Your Turn to Make a Difference
The theme of Child Abuse Prevention Month 2010, It’s Your Turn to Make a Difference, highlights how the choices we make every day can create positive change. Collectively and individually, we can create healthy and supportive communities through advocacy efforts, program development, collaboration, inclusion and education.

Get Involved!
As an individual, local organization or corporation, we invite you to become a part of the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign.

As an Individual You Can:

• Write to your elected offical about the importance of preventing the abuse and neglect of New York State's children.
• Purchase pinwheels and plant your own pinwheel garden.
• Talk about prevention in your community.
• Organize a small fundraiser to raise awareness in your community.
• Serve on a committee or board.

• Organize your own Pinwheels for Prevention campaign by purchasing pinwheels and planting a garden.
• Join Child Abuse Prevention Month activities in April or organize activities in your community
• Consider how you can incorporate child abuse prevention into your work.
• Discuss child abuse prevention at your conferences and meetings
• Collaborate locally.

• Sell paper pinwheels at checkout or other special pinwheel-themed items in your stores.
• Sponsor pinwheel activies in New York State.
• Print messages on your bags or insert bill-stuffers to bring attention to the issue of child abuse prevention.
• Invite your employees to show their support by purchasing and displaying pinwheels.
• Create a pinwheel garden on yolur company's presmises in April to show your support during Child Abuse Prevention Month.
• Contribute your company's professional expertise to help us advance this campaign and our organization's mission.
• Donate or support the purchase of advertising space to help continue getting the word out.

If you or your organization is interested in taking part in the Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign please contact Jennifer Dailey at 518-445-1273 ext 105 or jdailey@preventchildabuseny.org.