April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Blue is the color of April.

For Stacy Hopkins, executive director of the Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center in Birmingham, every month should be declared such.

Hopkins, along with the staff of the Exchange Club, kicked off the month with a celebration at Birmingham City Hall on Monday. They passed out blue pinwheels to spread the word about what they do, and how to prevent child abuse.

“We are turning Birmingham blue today,” Hopkins said with a smile. “What we wanted to do today is absolutely saturate this community with our pinwheels and everything blue. We want to spread the word and fight child abuse.”

Stacy Hopkins and the Exchange Club turn Birmingham blue for child abuse prevention from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

The Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center has been dedicated to educating families for more than 31 years. Hopkins and her staff work to strengthen family ties and to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect.

The event at City Hall demonstrated the support the Exchange Club receives from the city.

“Mayor Randall Woodfin is supporting us and being our lead ambassador. It’s absolutely phenomenal and we are so grateful that he believes in our cause and believes in our children,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins and her staff are excited to carry their message of education and prevention further with events all month long.

The Exchange Club educates new parents with free classes such as the First Teacher Program, a free in-home parent education and family support system. This program provides support through pregnancy and until the child is 5 years old. The Parent Aide Program is also available to educate parents of children from birth to 12 years old.

Support groups that meet regularly are available, such as the Positive Parenting Group, which meets weekly. Its mission is to educate parents on how to build healthy and positive relationships with their children.

The Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center is distributing blue pinwheels this month to call attention to its cause. (Dury Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)

The Exchange Club CAP Center has a variety of programs to help parents and prevent child abuse. (Dury Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)

Stacy Hopkins, executive director of the Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center, gets a hug from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin for her hard work. (Dury Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin shares a moment with a young attendee at the Child Abuse Prevention Month kickoff. (Bold As a Lion Studios)

Alabama Power is among organizations contributing to child abuse prevention efforts. (Bold As a Lion Studios)

Birmingham CAP fights child abuse 12 months a year, but its efforts get special attention in April. (Bold As a Lion Studios)

For Hopkins, the ideal of a society with no child abuse is not far from her thinking. It shouldn’t be far from our thinking as well, no matter what line of work you’re in. We can all support and encourage healthy family relationships.

“On a personal level, I have connections with someone I love very much who suffered at the hands of child abuse. I want this message to go out so all children live a happy and healthy childhood. We can prevent child abuse if we work together,” Hopkins said.

Those interested can stop by the Exchange Club to pick up blue pinwheels to display this month.

April is blue.

For more information on the Child Abuse Prevention Center, visit here.

Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning journalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.