Season’s greetings from all of us at Prevent Child Abuse Florida!

While we’re looking forward to spending time with family and friends this season, we’re also preparing for Children’s Week at the Capitol and our 2022 Pinwheels for Prevention campaign. It’s an exciting time!

I know you’re busy this season, too – you and your teams are working hard every day to meet the needs of families, and I also know many of you are already busy, conducting clothing and toy drives to help make the season special. While the people you serve may not always express their appreciation with words, remember that you are making a world of difference for these families.

Thank you for continuing to work in partnership with us to prevent child abuse through all the ups and downs of the past year. This important work is only possible because of you and your continued support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

So, as we navigate this holiday season, I implore you: please, be gracious to yourself, exercise the self-care we know is vital for our health, and support one another. To do our best work for children and families in 2022, we have to remember to rest and recharge so that we can recommit ourselves to stopping abuse before it starts.

Let’s talk about the coming year…

2022 Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign

Yes, April is already just around the corner! For our 2022 Pinwheels for Prevention campaign, we will continue our traditional activities and incorporate a few new ideas. We’re also happy to announce that we will be joined again this year by the Florida Trucking Association! We will be adding at least one additional partner to be named later, but who can offer local advertising of your events and help broadcast our mutual messages for CAP month.

I will email you a link to the CAP Month Toolkit in the coming days. As we schedule our organizational and informational webinars, we will send you the details and links to register.

Please let me know about your events as they’re scheduled so that I can plan to celebrate with you. I’m always here to help with planning themes like “Pinwheels in Iconic Places” or the lighting of buildings, landmarks, and structures in beautiful blue. For more ideas and tips, visit our Pinwheel Garden page.

Mark Your Calendar: Wear Blue Day is April 1, 2022. Please join us in wearing blue on April 1 and share your photos! Don’t forget! You can order a customized T-shirt to wear on Wear Blue Day by visiting our T-Spring order page. There are many different styles to choose from.

The Pinwheels Store is OPEN!

By now, we’re all familiar with rising costs and supply chain issues. Despite these challenges, we’re proud to be able to offer our signature blue and silver pinwheels at a price that beats store brands, and we’ll include direct shipping in the price!

This year, if you order by February 1, the nonprofit (discounted) rate for a box of 240 pinwheels is $175, plus, we’ll throw in a free sign with each order!

After February 1, the nonprofit rate will be $185, and signs will cost $25. To get the discount code, please contact my Administrative Assistant, Heather Jones at (850) 921-4494 or hjones@ounce.org.

You’ll also find pinwheels, lapel pins, magnets, and more on www.preventchildabusefl.org or go directly to the online order portal. Select the number of items you would like to order and be sure to click “Submit Selected Items.”

Boxes of pinwheels for businesses and other partners will remain at $250. Organizations may also order a “Micro Garden,” which contains 25 pinwheels and a sign for $50.

If you have questions, please contact me at (850) 933-3271 or clolley@ounce.org or Heather Jones at (850) 921-4494 or hjones@ounce.org.

Parenting and Advocacy Guides

These valuable resources are being updated for 2022 with the latest information on positive, proactive parenting. They are still available at no cost, including shipping! Order them through our online portal or you can find the link at www.preventchildabusefl.org.

Primary Prevention App Survey

You may remember that in our last newsletter, I mentioned our Primary Prevention App Survey and project. I’d like to put in another request that those of you who are interested in hosting an in-person focus group of young parents, youth in care who are pregnant or parenting, kinship caregivers, or foster/adoptive parents, please contact me to schedule a date and time.

If you already have meetings scheduled with these or similar groups, I’d love to give a short presentation in person and/or provide the link to the survey for sharing.

I’m fired up to get back into your communities and listen to the voices of youth, caregivers, and those with lived expertise! If you have questions about the project or would like to discuss options, please contact me.

Thank you all for everything you do to support families and protect children in our state. Have a wonderful holiday season!