The Orion Area Youth Assistance (OAYA) is selling pinwheel gardens throughout April to help raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“The pinwheel symbolizes what we wish childhood to be for every child – carefree, filled with joy, wonder, kindness,” said OAYA Caseworker Amber Kish.
The pinwheel gardens include three pinwheels in pot and a flyer. Suggested donation is $15 per garden and the gardens are perfect for any business countertop. Donation jars are also available if any business would like to help collect for the OAYA.
“Perpetrators of abuse rely on silence and remaining unseen. We want these pinwheel gardens to start conversations. We want children to know that we are not afraid to bring light to this topic, to talk about it – and they need not be either,” Kish said.
All donations go directly to OAYA programming and prevention services. The Youth Assistance’s mission is to strengthen youth and families and reduce the incidence of delinquency, neglect and abuse through community involvement.
To purchase a pinwheel garden or to donate to OAYA programs, contact Stella Britt at the OAYA office at 248-693-6878 or by emailing oaya@lok12.org.
For more information on the OAYA visit www.lakeorionyouthassistance.com.
– By Jim Newell