Palm Beach County United for Children with Pinwheels

On any given day in the state of Florida, there are approximately 750 children ready to be adopted from foster homes with no identifiable family. There are also over 50,000 children in Florida who are neglected or abused, every year. Searcy Denney has decided to do its part in trying to disrupt the vicious cycle of child abuse by supporting an organization called Palm Beach County Unites for Children (PBCUC).

PBCUC is a collaboration of several passionate child advocates and agencies who address all aspects of a child’s healthy development with their individual missions. Some member organizations work to provide foster homes for children, others work to increase literacy rates, and still others work to support the victims of abuse and neglect. We’ve supported many of these organizations in the past, which is one reason why supporting PBCUC is so important to us.

So what does PBCUC do, exactly, when all of its members are already engaged in important and irreplaceable work around South Florida? PBCUC is a collaboration and a unification of several agencies, listed below, who are working together to bring awareness to child abuse prevention and the needs of those children already under state care. The PBCUC is composed of local organizations, including:

• 4 Kids of South Florida
• Bridges CHS/CSC Programs
• Camelot Community Care
• ChildNet
• Children’s Healing Institute
• Children’s Home Society
• Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County
• Department of Children & Families
• Florida Guardian ad Litem Program
• Forever Family
• Foster & Adoptive Parents Association
• Friends of Abused Children
• Heart Gallery
• Kid Inc.
• Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
• Palm Beach Broadcasting
• Palm Beach County Library System
• Palm Beach County Schools
• Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office
• Palm Beach State College
• Place of Hope
• Resource Depot
• Speak Up For Kids of Palm Beach County
• Vita Nova, Inc.

Seeing this kind of collaborative effort coming from such a varied group of service providers and non-profit organizations speaks to the importance of PBCUC’s mission. And it is a very important mission – children are not only the future but the foundation of our society. You don’t have to donate your financial resources to make a difference, either. Caring for the neighborhood child whose parents work late or reporting signs of abuse or neglect to local law enforcement are both important ways to exercise your commitment to children in this county. It takes a village to raise a child.

If none of this inspires you – consider the costs to society when children are abused and neglected. The Prevent Child Abuse America organization has estimated that taxpayers lose nearly $80 billion per year because of the lack of effective policies and strategies to prevent the abuse and neglect of children.

We want our nation’s children to be the best and the brightest in this new global economy – and we want them to succeed, both for their sake, and ours. We need to support all of the children in this country – because they all deserve nurturing and healthy environments. They all deserve a proper education and they all deserve an equal opportunity for success and happiness. It’s the American way.

We’ve decided to do our part by participating in the national Pinwheels for Prevention campaign by planting hundreds of pinwheels in our own front yard here on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. We hope you can join us.