GREENFIELD — High above the Town Common in Greenfield, a new flag whips in the breeze, and it will remain there until the end of the month to raise awareness for the more 2,000 victims of child abuse in Franklin County last year.
On Thursday, hundreds gathered around the flag pole to mark its raising. The event was attended by all of Federal Street School’s students and their teachers. Those in the choir sang “Shalom” and “This Land Is Our Land.”
The event was hosted through a collaboration between the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, the mayor’s Domestic Violence Task Force, women and children advocacy group NELCWIT and the state Department of Children and Families.
The flag has flown since April 1 and will remain aloft until the end of the month. It depicts five children holding hands, with the one in the center colored differently to represent the one child in every five who is affected by child abuse in Massachusetts, according to Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan.
Mayor William Martin read a proclamation officially declaring April as Child Abuse Awareness Month.
“Every child deserves to grow up in a healthy and nurturing environment,” Martin read, noting many situations that result in abuse can be prevented and calling for it to be prevented in future years.
He said there were 2,183 victims of child abuse in Franklin County in 2015.
“The flag is a symbol of the devastating problem that many families face in our community, but also a symbol of the courage that we see in the children and families here,” said Mary Kociela, the District Attorney’s representative to the mayor’s task force, and a founding member of NELCWIT (New England Learning Center for Women in Transition) which has fought domestic abuse in the region for 40 years.
Sullivan told the gathered students that his job as district attorney is to keep them safe.
“Today we celebrate the most important thing in Franklin County — and that’s all you kids,” Sullivan told the students. “It’s about your health and your safety, and your peace, in your home and community.”
Jessie Cooley, a member of the board of directors for the county’s Child Advocacy Center in Greenfield, lauded the recent opening of the center on Wisdom Way. An open house is scheduled for April 29 from 3 to 6 p.m.
“The house is a place where a multi-disciplinary team comes together to offer children support and healing and justice,” in cases of abuse brought through the courts, she said. “We know we can work together to keep children safe and help them thrive.”
You can reach Tom Relihan at:
trelihan@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.