Emily Hulme, 4-H member of the Clutier Cowboys and Cowgirls is helping SKIP promote National Child Abuse Month through a citizenship exhibit throughout the month of April and then onto the Tama County Fair in July. -Photo provided

Tama County Supporting Kids in Prevention (S.K.I.P.) has invited you to join them in observing National Child Abuse Prevention Month April 2018 and now to continue to aid in this effort. The theme this year is “No Excuse for Child Abuse.”

To help S.K.I.P. promote child abuse prevention awareness Emily Hulme, 4-H member of the Clutier Cowboys and Cowgirls, and daughter of Jenny and Sam Hulme, contacted Linda Rosenberger, Co-Director of Tama County S.K.I.P., about painting wooden silhouettes, blue to designate child abuse prevention awareness.

These silhouettes painted blue and exhibiting the blue pinwheel and the theme message will be on display at Fareway, Shopko, and at a business in Traer.

Pinwheels for Prevention is a nationwide public awareness campaign that puts a new spin on prevention. The pinwheel an uplifting symbol of childhood represents our efforts to ensure the healthy development of children, a time that should be filled with joy, nurturing and playfulness, while recognizing that child development is a building block for community and economic development.

When children don’t have equal opportunities for growth and development, we put the future of our society at risk. When we invest in healthy child development, we are investing in community and economic development.

Child abuse is preventable, if people come together using their time, talents and resources to reach out to families across our towns and Tama County. Tama County S.K.I.P. is dedicated to making Tama County a place where children can grow up safe, nurtured and able to reach their full potential.

Ideas for ways you can help prevent child abuse are:

-offer a neighbor, friend or family member a break from parenting, sometimes a short period away is all a parent needs to be refreshed.

-Contact your local legislator to ensure they support child abuse prevention funding and policies to make children safer in our county.

-Participate on a local organization, which works to prevent child abuse, such as S.K.I.P.

Every April during Child Abuse Prevention Month S.K.I.P. and many of its partner organizations around the county plant pinwheel gardens in honor of children in our communities.

If you would like more information about Tama County S.K.I.P, please contact Tama County Public Health & Home Care at 641-484-4788, or visit the Tama County SKIP Facebook page.