A local nonprofit organization is taking the entire month to raise awareness of child abuse.

The Crime Victim Center has been holding events all month long to ensure people are aware of what is happening in the community and what they can do to keep kids safe.

Paul Lukach, executive director of the Crime Victim Center, said that they have been doing this for about 10 years. The color blue is used during this month after Bonnie W. Finney tied a blue ribbon to her van to “make people wonder.”

Curious people in the community would ask Finney what this meant, and she would tell the story of the abuse of her grandson to raise awareness.

The pinwheel represents innocence. It’s a national symbol for child abuse prevention and reflects the bright futures all children deserve.

“We do need places for people to be safe and to work through their trauma. Places like the Child Advocacy Center and the Crime Victim Center are so important to make sure children get to talk about their trauma, get to work through it and don’t let it be a burden or a barrier to other things in their life — that they continue their education, that they continue success in their lives and that they can move beyond the trauma that they faced,” said Lukach.

The Crime Victim Center said the pinwheel is a positive emblem of the effect we can have when we work together to prevent child abuse and would love to continue seeing the blue pinwheels in the community for the rest of the month.