The Archdiocesan Office for Child and Youth Protection (OCYP) will partner with Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School in Maple Glen (Montgomery County) to host the Archdiocesan 2022 Blue Pinwheel Awareness Garden.
The garden is being planted in observance of “National Child Abuse Prevention Month,” which is commemorated annually during the month of April. The garden is part of a national movement, “Pinwheels for Prevention.” It is as a grass roots initiative sponsored by Prevent Child Abuse America.
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Saint Alphonsus Church
33 Conwell Drive
Maple Glen, PA 19002 (Montgomery County)
Portions of the event will be live streamed from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Schools Facebook page @ AOPSschools.
Approximately 460 students in grades Pre-K through 8 will work collaboratively with school faculty and administration as well as OCYP staff to plant 500 pinwheels. Monsignor Brian Hennessy, Pastor of Saint Alphonsus Parish; Monsignor Stephen McHenry, Pastor of Saint Anthony of Padua Parish in Ambler (Montgomery County); Father Joseph Rymdeika, Pastor, Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Horsham (Montgomery County); Ms. Leslie Davila, Director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office for Child and Youth Protection; Andrew McLaughlin, Ed.D. Secretary for Elementary Education; and Mrs. Marianne Finnegan, Principal, Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School will be in attendance.
Monsignor Hennessy will lead the OLM school community in prayer followed by brief remarks from Ms. Davila. OLM students will then walk from inside the Church outside to the statue of the Holy Family.
Monsignor Hennessy, Monsignor McHenry, Father Rymdeika, Ms. Davila, Mrs. Finnegan, and Dr. McLaughlin will plant the first six pinwheels and the student body will plant the remainder. Following the planting of the pinwheel garden, Ms. Davila and OCYP staff members will visit classrooms with the pastors, principal and administrators from the Office of Catholic Education.
In addition to Pinwheels for Prevention, OCYP sponsored a number of events and activities during the month of April including the observance of Blue Sunday (April 24) and Blue Monday (April 25). For more information about OCYP, please visit childyouthprotection.org/.
Background on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Child and Youth Protection
The Archdiocesan Office for Child and Youth Protection is comprised of caring professionals whose purpose is to support the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s commitment to create and maintain safe environments for the children who attend its churches, schools, and programs. Provide compassionate and supportive assistance to individuals who have been the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse and their family members.
The Archdiocesan schools and parish religious education programs offer age-appropriate child abuse prevention and technology safety instruction annually. During the 2020-2021 school year, 93,814 students in our Elementary, Secondary and Parish Religious Education program received Child Abuse prevention lessons. In addition, in 2020-2021, 1,902 adults where trained how to recognize and report abuse as mandated reporters.
OCYP takes its direction from The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future acts of abuse.
Note: For more information on the work and resources offered by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Child & Youth Protection, please visit childyouthprotection.org/. For information about Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, please visit aopcatholicschools.org/. For information about Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School, please visit www.olmrcs.com/.
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