The Moore Wright Group staff wanted to do something special to make people aware April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and boy, did they deliver.

Brady Figueredo, executive coordinator for The Moore Wright Group (TMWG) — a 501(c)3 nonprofit, saw there was an option to buy blue and silver pinwheels from the state. He said they had to jump on the chance.

“I said, ‘Let’s get as many as we can and make a statement,’” Figueredo said.

The nonprofit made use of Friday’s beautiful weather — 55 degrees and sunny — in order to plant 1,200 pinwheels into TMWG’s 2.7-acre grass plot along Aberdeen Avenue, and between North Division and North Williams streets. The pinwheels will stay there the rest of April. They face the road and are right across the street from Hopkins Preschool Center.

TMWG’s Warehouse Supervisor Amber Wessel, who was credited with installing the first pinwheel of the day, had been outside since about 10 a.m., Friday. She spoke to The Daily World just after 3 p.m., when she and her coworkers were planting the last of the pinwheels.

“Three of us all day long have been rotating to get it done,” Wessel said. “It’s kind of cool that we get to do this right in front of the school. Hopefully (the children) know what this is for and they know they don’t have to stay silent.”

Tanikka Watford, TMWG’s executive director, was outside earlier in the day. By Figueredo’s count, Watford planted a few hundred pinwheels herself. Watford spoke Monday morning about the importance of the nonprofit contributing in such a visual way.

“It’s very much an issue our community faces, and to be able to spot, to bring awareness to such an important issue, our hope is that it brings so much awareness that people … become educated on how prevalent it is here,” Watford said. “And then they can step in, when they see something or something that doesn’t seem right, to help take steps of action.”

Watford called the various forms of child abuse “a senseless crime.”

“It impacts a child for the rest of their lives,” Watford said. “And if we can do something, anything, put out some pinwheels to let people know that this exists, then I’m here for it, all day.”

Watford compared the abuse children face to victims of domestic violence.

“People stay quiet out of fear,” said Watford, who wants to end the cycle. She wants to provide a place for people to heal, which is part of TMWG’s mission. “We want people to know there are safe places to come to. There are people to talk to, and they don’t have to stay silent about abuse.”

Watford wanted to do a similar type of display, but just didn’t have the money. TMWG closed on the facility on April 14, 2022. So, this year, when there was money, she was all about doing something for the cause.

“This year we had a little bit more to be able to buy them, so I had to jump on the opportunity,” Watford said. “And they were still available, so we had to jump on the opportunity to be able to do it.”

According to Watford, the pinwheels will stay up all month long. April has served as National Child Abuse Prevention Month since 1983.

The approximate five-hour-long project received some outside attention. Apparently, it wasn’t just from drivers, but from the skies.

“We had a plane fly overhead and once it flew over us, it turned around and flew back again,” Wessel said.

And then outside of that pilot, the staff has seen the support online. Figueredo pointed out one comment in particular that described the reason for the pinwheels — that the pinwheel is “reflective of the bright future all children deserve.”

While it took several hours to get through the five boxes full of pinwheels, it was worth it to the staff. Joey Hubbard, a maintenance worker for TMWG, explained.

“I think it’s a beautiful display for child abuse awareness,” Hubbard said. “We want to be a big part of the community. Coming from a walk of life where I’m in recovery, a friend recommended I come work here because we’re cut from the same cloth, so to speak.”

As for the work itself, Hubbard was happy to be out planting the pinwheels with his coworkers.

“I love it here, I love work here,” said Hubbard, who’s been in recovery for the past six years. “It’s because they accepted me that I’m willing to do anything for them.”

While the pinwheels weren’t installed precisely four feet apart, Wessel said she and her coworkers “measured with love.” The most important thing was to make the display bright enough so people saw it. Wessel said silver was used “for the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Figueredo said they posted on Facebook to let the community know anyone was welcome to plant and to write a message of support. Then, with a smile on his face, he described the staff’s dedication to the cause.

“All of our staff when we come up with crazy ideas for a project, we pull together,” Figueredo said. “Half the staff is off work, but they’re here. They know it’s important to us and the community and they want to make a statement. What better way than to make it sparkly?”

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.

The Moore Wright Group staff planted 1,200 blue and silver pinwheels for National Child Prevention Month. Amber Wessel, warehouse supervisor for the nonprofit organization, said she thought the use of silver on the pinwheel was for the “light at the end of the tunnel,” in regard to stopping child abuse.