A sign helps promote Pinwheels for Prevention, a program organized every April for Child Abuse Awareness Month.

The blue pinwheels popping up around Baker City are getting quite a workout in the wind this month.

But at least the spinning decorations catch eyes — the whole purpose of the “Pinwheels for Prevention” campaign, which happens every April for Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The root of this yearly campaign dates to 2015, when the Ford Family Foundation dedicated money to start development of the Protect Our Children project, which includes trainings on how to recognize and respond to child abuse.

“This project would lead 11 areas across the state and Siskiyou County in California in presenting trainings to build awareness of child sexual abuse and learning steps to protect children,” said Marilyn Dalton, site coordinator for the Protect our Children project in Wallowa and Baker counties.

Building Healthy Families was selected to bring the program to Wallowa, Baker and Malheur counties.

The training is “Stewards of Children” provided by the prevention organization Darkness to Light.

“This prevention training teaches adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse,” Dalton said.

Trainings continued during the pandemic, but moved to a virtual format.

Dalton, who is a trained facilitator for “Stewards of Children,” said the Protect Our Children project has provided the training for more than 30,000 people.

Next training

Building Healthy Families will offer the next virtual training on Tuesday, April 19, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The final day to register is Monday, April 18.

Each participant will receive a workbook. To register, to go https://www.eventbrite.com/e/294778579667, call Building Healthy Families at 541-426-9411 or email mdalton@oregonbhf.org.

Pinwheels

In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel as the national symbol for child abuse prevention.

Starting in 2016, a year after joining the Protect Our Children project, Building Healthy Families began coordinating the April awareness/prevention campaign in Baker and Wallowa counties. Pinwheel gardens and other promotional materials are made available to businesses, schools, churches, organizations, medical facilities and others.

Having the pinwheels and information visible is one way to make more people aware of the need to protect children from child abuse, Dalton said.

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) has partnered with Building Healthy Families to promote the project, and there are currently more than 30 pinwheel gardens in Wallowa County and 16 in Baker County.

Erin Taggart, director of Wallowa County CASA, is a trained facilitator for the “Stewards of Children” training.

“She and her family are the creative designers of new and innovative ideas for pinwheel displays,” Dalton said.

Susan Polumsky is the pinwheel coordinator for Wallowa and Baker counties, and works with Jillian Hawkins at the Baker County BHF office.

“Collecting data is Susan’s specialty and she maintains lists of locations, number of pinwheels at each location and is constantly looking for a location that is not on the current list,” Dalton said.

To request pinwheels, contact Polumsky at 541-426-9411 or spolumsky@oregonbhf.org.