April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Cumberland Commonwealth’s Attorney Pat Scales, the Woman’s Club of Cumberland and Cumberland Victim-Witness Director Tiffany Booker are partnering to draw attention to the plight of child abuse by planting bright blue pinwheels in the community.

“Just as we did last year, Ms. Booker and I will plant scores of twirling pinwheels in the area surrounding the courthouse,” said Scales, who prosecutes the county’s child abuse and neglect cases. “Pinwheels make children smile, and the bright blue pinwheels that we jointly purchased will hopefully increase public awareness,” she added.

The Woman’s Club of Cumberland, guided by Co-Presidents Deanna Lacy and Patty Pedrick, will place hundreds of the bright blue pinwheels their group purchased in front of the Cumberland Middle School along Route 60 on Monday, April 1, at 10 a.m.

“We want the parents to know that we care about the children, and we’ve been doing this for years,” said Pedrick. “We planted a pinwheel garden at the elementary school starting back in the early 2000s, and since then we’ve planted them at different locations each year.”

Ms. Booker has been the county’s Victim-Witness Director for about three years. “I work with victims and their families, and from what I see, it’s clear that the drug abuse crisis has had a negative impact on the child abuse problem,” said Booker. “The old saying is, it takes a community to raise a child. For me, that same saying is true for helping to prevent child abuse — it takes the community.”

According to the website of Families Forward Virginia, a nonprofit organization based in Richmond, addiction or the abuse of prescription pills or illegal drugs such as heroin or methamphetamines can hinder or “erode a parent’s ability to provide good nutrition, supervision and basic care for their child.” The organization’s website shows that “every 13 days a child dies as a result of abuse/neglect” and that “every 81 minutes, a child is abused or neglected in Virginia.”