NT: 'We all can play a part in supporting strong and thriving families'

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Submitted by the Office of North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec

This month and throughout the year, the Erie Niagara Sunrise Exchange Club encourages all individuals and organizations to play a role in making the Tonawandas a better place for children and families. By ensuring that parents have the knowledge, skills and resources they need to care for their children, we can help prevent child abuse and neglect by creating strong and thriving children, youth and families in our communities.

Research shows that protective factors are present in healthy families. Protective factors are conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities or the larger society that mitigate risk and promote healthy development and wellbeing.

The Erie Niagara Sunrise Exchange Club will work with the City of Tonawanda and the City of North Tonawanda to light up both city halls blue in awareness of this program.

 A prayer vigil and lighting will be held at the Remembrance Garden in North Tonawanda on April 1 at 7 p.m. to promote awareness. Members will also be at the North Tonawanda Easter Egg hunt held at Pinewood Park earlier in the day with Pinwheels for Prevention for the children.

The Delaware Road, Kenilworth and North Tonawanda libraries will have displays throughout the month of April, sharing information on child abuse prevention.

Exchange adopted child abuse prevention as its national project in 1979. Now, Exchange is working to address the problem through the public awareness efforts of local clubs, as well as a network of more than 100 Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Centers in the United States. The centers train parent aides who work directly with families who are at risk of abuse or where abuse has occurred. Parent aides serve as role models and teach positive parenting techniques. To date, the Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention network has helped more than 545,000 families and 1.3 million children break the cycle of child abuse in their communities.

Exchange, America’s Service Club, is a group of men and women working to make their communities better places to live through projects in Americanism, youth, community service, and its national project, the prevention of child abuse.

April is a time to celebrate the important role that communities play in protecting children and strengthening families, everyone's participation is critical. Focusing on ways to connect with families is the best way that our community can help to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect.