GREENFIELD — Local victim advocates will host a series of events next week to mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
The awareness effort, hosted nationally by the federal Department of Justice, aims to improve relationships among crime victims, the law enforcement officials who serve them and community members as a whole.
It falls in the middle of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention month. Events planned locally address both topics, as well as domestic violence awareness.
Here’s a look at the week’s events:
•Dinner, 5 to 7 p. m. Monday at the Fraternal Order of Police Post, 400 E. Davis Road, Greenfield. All donations will benefit Prevai, Inc., a Noblesville-based nonprofit that serves victims of domestic violence. Organizers also will collect teddy bears, which will be given to local first-responders to carry during their patrols and emergency runs to give to children they meet in times of crisis.
•Pinwheels for Prevention, noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road, Greenfield. A field of pinwheels will be planted on the library’s lawn, marking child abuse prevention and awareness month. Pinwheels for Prevention is a national movement started by Prevent Child Abuse America as a visual reminder that all children deserve great childhoods, according to the group’s website.
•Expand the Circle, 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Hancock County Courthouse Annex, 111 American Legion Place, Greenfield. Members of the local prosecutor’s office will host guest speakers Jenny Wendt, a rape survivor, and State Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, who will speak about the importance of offering support to crime victim and what communities can do to better their victims services.
•Food truck lunch, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Hancock County Courthouse Plaza, 9 E. Main St.
•Strike Out Domestic Violence, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Strike Force Lanes, 1539 W. Main St., Greenfield.
•5K Against Domestic Violence, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Hancock County Courthouse Plaza. Sponsored by Alternatives Inc., an Anderson-based women’s shelter and resource center, this walk and run aims to raise money and awareness of the services offered to Hancock County women in need. Vendors will be on hand to speak with participants looking for more information.