TIFTON — With several programs and activities to raise awareness for and inform about child sexual abuse prevention, nonprofit Ruth’s Cottage and The Patticake House have prepared for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Month in April.

Nancy Bryan, executive director of Ruth’s Cottage and The Patticake House, said the organization would be hosting and collaborating on a multitude of events throughout April as part of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Month.

Events began with “A Voice for All Children” pinwheel ceremony April 8; attendees gathered at the Special Programs Building of the Tift County Recreation Department to show support for the wellbeing of children in Tift County.

Four training programs are scheduled throughout the month, the first was a training summit in partnership with the Alliance for Children April 7 at the University of Georgia Conference Center.

The summit featured Cory Jewell Jensen as a guest speaker. Jensen has more than 35 years of experience in evaluating and providing treatment to adult sex offenders and their families.

The remaining three programs are all under the banner of “Darkness to Light,” a child sexual abuse prevention nonprofit organization that Ruth’s Cottage and The Patticake House collaborates with. The three seminars will help attendees learn how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to signs of child abuse.

The program will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., April 19, in the Lynn Lovett Conference Room of Ruth’s Cottage and The Patticake House and 6-8 p.m., April 25, in the parish hall at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church.

The agenda includes a new event crafted by the Tifton nonprofit. Based on the candlelight vigil performed in October for Domestic Violence Awareness month, “Remembrance of the Innocent” will be a candlelight service remembering children in the Tift County area who have lost their lives to sexual abuse.

Planned to be held 7-8 p.m., April 21, at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, the event will feature a statement from a survivor of child sexual abuse, as well as a guest speaker Amy Boney, CEO of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Georgia. The first names of all of the children in the Tifton Judicial Circuit who have lost their lives to child sexual abuse in the past two years will also be read.

At all of the events, attendees are encouraged to wear blue in commemoration of the month, as well as throughout April, organizers said.

To register for events or more information, contact Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House at (229)-387-9697 or ccarr@rcph.net.