The front lawn of Morgan Academy was buzzing with students Thursday afternoon as they planted blue pinwheels in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Morgan sophomore Abbie Bohannon, with the help of her mom, Dana, and Central Alabama Regional Child Advocacy Center executive director Lauri Cothran, decided to get the students at her school involved and raise money for the organization.

“Abbie, her mom and I started talking back in the fall trying to figure out what the right fit for a volunteer job was for her, and because of the confidential nature of our office, there wasn’t a lot in the office that she could do,” Cothran said. “So then we came up with this idea and she ran with it.”

Students could donate $1 for a pinwheel, and were also able to buy shirts to wear instead of their normal uniform.

“We planted pinwheels and wore blue t-shirts to support the Child Advocacy Center,” Bohannon said. “It’s awesome to see so many people actually get out and help. I was so excited.”

Bohannon is the current Teen Sterling Miss USA title holder and decided she wanted to use child abuse prevention as her platform to spread the word and do her part in protecting children.

“I do pageants because I want to go out in the community and help people, and it’s just a platform for me to do that,” Bohannon said. “It sounded like a really good idea when my mom told me about it, and I just fell in love with it.”

With more than 500 pinwheels planted, Cothran said the donation will go toward helping the kids in the communities they serve.

“The money will go toward the Child Advocacy Center and providing services to abused children in our five-county region,” Cothran said.

The five counties that the center serves are Dallas, Perry, Wilcox, Hale and Bibb.

Cothran said some of the students that planted the pinwheels Thursday may be too young to understand what they were doing it for, but she hopes to continue the partnership with Morgan, and have the younger ones understand as they get older.

“Some of them are a little young, but I think if we continue to do this over the years, I think they will get a better grasp of what the Child Advocacy Center is for,” Cothran said.

Bohannon has plans to continue the fundraiser as long as she’s in school at Morgan.

“It is awesome to see kids out doing things, helping the community and making the community a better place,” Bohannon said. “[I want to continue to do it] every year until I graduate.”

The Central Alabama Regional Child Advocacy Center will plant its annual pinwheel garden Thursday, April 12 at 5 p.m. at their new location at 420 Broad Street in Selma.