OTC Helps Promote Child
Abuse Prevention

April is recognized as Child Abuse Prevention Month throughout the state of Georgia. Prevent Child Abuse Bulloch County holds its annual Pinwheels for Prevention campaign on the Courthouse Lawn during the month of April. During the Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign pinwheels are planted into the courthouse lawn representing each reported case of child abuse in Bulloch County during the previous calendar year.  During 2006 there were 336 reported cases of child abuse in Bulloch County.

This year 336 pinwheels will be placed throughout the community throughout the month of April.  The pinwheels will be planted in the following locations:  Ogeechee Technical College, Georgia Southern University, Mill Creek Park, East Georgia Regional Medical Center, the Courthouse Lawn, and Miller Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

In addition to the Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign the following activities will be held during the month of April:

• Department of Family and Children Services Appreciation Day, Monday, April 9, 2007
• Picnic for Prevention, Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 11:30 am -1:30 pm on the Courthouse Lawn.  Planting pinwheels (one for each reported case of child abuse in 2006), games, music, vendors, and other fun activities for families.  Bring a picnic lunch and join the fun!
• Child Abuse 101 Training, Tuesday, April 17 & Thursday, April 19, 6:15-8:30 pm, at the Bulloch County Center for Agriculture, 151 Langston Chapel Road.  $5.00 per person.  2 hours of State Accepted Credit in Child Care or Parenting.  Please call Diane Miller (912) 871-6130 to register or for more information.  Registration must be received by Friday, April 13.

In addition to being a site for the planting of the pinwheels, Ogeechee Technical College is promoting the cause of Child Prevention by placing a “Prevent Child Abuse” message on the college’s message board on U.S. 301, and is providing literature and Prevent Child Abuse blue ribbons in several locations on the campus.  OTC Student Services Specialist Ms. Jane Rocker commented, “We can provide information to our students that will help them understand the need to help prevent child abuse.”  “Our mission to educate goes further than just academics,” Ms. Rocker further stated.  Ogeechee Tech’s Prevent Child Abuse campaign will last the entire month, just as the statewide campaign.  “There could not be a more worthy cause to support that this,” commented OTC President, Dr. Dawn Cartee.  “We are glad to do whatever we can to help raise awareness about this important issue, and we hope that the focus will become constant, and not just centered in the month of April,” Dr. Cartee concluded.

Contact: Barry Turner
Executive Director of Public Relations
Phone: (912) 688-6958
Email: bturner@ogeecheetech.edu