DELPHOS — When Jefferson High School art students heard how many child abuse cases are reported in Allen County, they were shocked. Their reaction led to the creation of three silk paintings to be displayed near the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center in Lima.
Statistics from Allen County Children’s Services indicate 581 alleged cases in 2006. For Kody Boggs, the issue is more than a number.
“I have a friend whose child was abused and I based my silk painting on that,” he said.
Five students in Beth von der Embse’s Art II class are involved in the endeavor, along with students from other schools in the county.
“The whole point is to educate the community about child abuse and neglect and to advocate for prevention,” von der Embse said.
April is designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month by the Center for Child and Family Advocacy. The organization is located at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus and extends its Pinwheels for Prevention project around the state through various partnerships. It uses pinwheels as a symbol for each alleged case of child abuse.
Its partnerships include one with the Partnership for Violence-free Families in Lima.
Director Donna Dickman says the silks will be auctioned as a fundraiser for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Task Force and will be available for online bidding at pcao.org.
“They will be available for bid the whole month of April and will be on display in the walkway over Market Street between the civic center and the parking garage. We plan to have 15 silks from different schools and the theme is pinwheels,” Dickman said. “The Partnership for Violence-free Families is very much involved in the Pinwheels for Prevention Project. We will have 581 pinwheels on the front lawn of the YWCA and each one represents a child who has had a call made for them to Allen County Children’s Services in 2006.”
This is the fourth year the partnership has participated in the pinwheel project. She says the idea behind the silk paintings was to expand the expressive visual nature of colorful pinwheels blowing in the breeze around Ohio.
The Putnam County Educational Service Center in Ottawa will display 532 pinwheels during the last week of the month.
Also representing abuse allegations in 2006, Van Wert County will display pinwheels.