Submitted to the Herald Review
REED CITY — The Reed City General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) planted “Pinwheels for Prevention” on April 9 throughout the Reed City area. The group’s motto is “Women serving the Community,” and “Pinwheels for Prevention” is a GFWC signature project.
The “Pinwheels for Prevention” program was created in 2008 to spread awareness of child abuse and neglect. One of the other ways the group helps children in our area is by the creation of Katie’s Kloset, which supplies our elementary school children with boots, shoes, coats, hats and mittens on an as-needed basis.
The responsibility is ours to contribute to the kind of nation in which we want to live. When all children don’t have equal opportunity for healthy growth and development, we put our future as a society at risk. Unfortunately, children are sometimes exposed to extreme and sustained stress like child abuse and neglect, which can undermine a child’s development. Research conducted by Prevent Child Abuse America estimates that implementing effective policies and strategies to prevent child abuse and neglect can save taxpayers $80 billion per year. The cost of not doing this is measured in increased costs for foster care services, hospitalization, mental health treatment and law enforcement, as well as loss of individual productivity and expenditures related to chronic health problems, special education and the justice system.
Our elementary school children will have a parade later this month to celebrate the “Month of the Young Child.”