Dallas County residents driving down Alabama Highway 14 this month might notice something shiny catch their eye — and that’s just what the staff of Christian Services for Children in Alabama is hoping for. Nearly 20 blue and silver pinwheels spinning in the wind and reflecting rays of sunlight were put out in front of CSCA Friday in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Cynthia Stinson, CSCA executive director said this is the first year CSCA has decided to put the bright blue pinwheels, which are the national symbol for child abuse prevention, outside of their building.

“We want the community to know that we play a part in responding to the social and emotional needs of children,” she said. “The pinwheel is a national symbol, and it’s a way of promoting healthy childhood development. We just want to raise awareness to that and to be a part of the community and the nation as a whole to show our response in raising child abuse prevention awareness.”

CSCA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide counseling and other related services to children and their families. According to Stinson, the organization, located on Alabama Highway 14 in Selma, serves on average 180 children each month in Dallas County and other surrounding counties, noting that the number of pinwheels is not indicative of the number of children CSCA serves.

“Our work is centered around a variety of services including teaching families communication skills, budgeting, how to link with resources in the community available to them and crisis intervention,” Stinson said. “And many of these families deal with sexual abuse and domestic violence.”

Stinson said she sees the pinwheels as a symbol of being bright, happy and cheerful — all things that childhood should be.

When people driving by see the pinwheels, she said, they should see that, “our children should have a bright future — that all children deserve a bright future.”

“It’s really for them to make the connection between the pinwheel and national child abuse prevention month and every child deserving a bright future,” Donnell Lewis, CSCA program coordinator said.

Stinson said they want people to know that CSCA is a part of the community that promotes child abuse prevention awareness, along with the department of human resources and other human service agencies.

“We believe the future of our community is dependant on everybody so we want the community to feel like we’re a part of them, and they’re a part of us,” she said.

For more information on CSCA call (334) 875-0608.