Cullman Caring for Kids hosted its annual prayer walk and balloon release in Heritage Park Wednesday to raise awareness of child abuse and encourage the community to help keep children safe from harm. 

Represenatives from Cullman Caring for Kids, the Cullman County Department of Human Resources, the United Way of Cullman County and other community organizations were on hand to walk and pray for abused children and all of the people who are working to get them out of their bad situations. 

The group also released 22 balloons — 21 balloons to represent the children in Alabama who died last year as a result of child abuse and one balloon to represent the children who are still suffering from abuse. 

There were also 21 crosses placed in the park with the first names of all of the children who passed away last year, and blue ribbons were placed on some of the park’s trees to help raise awareness in the community. 

The guest speaker for the event, Cullman County District Judge Chad Floyd said that seeing the 21 crosses that represent the children who lost their lives from child abuse can make one want to fall into despair, but he was also able to look at the people in attendance from the Department of Human Resources, Cullman Caring for Kids and other organizations as a reason for hope. 

“As we release these balloons in honor of the 21 children, what we’re trying to do is just raise awareness of the issue,” he said. 

Floyd said there are trained individuals with the Department of Human Resources and with law enforcement who respond to child abuse cases, and he encouraged anyone who suspects child abuse to report it to one of those people to make sure the child receives the help they need. 

Local organizations may not be able to have a big impact in the rest of the state, but they can help make sure that Cullman County’s children remain safe from child abuse, he said. 

“One death next year due to child abuse is one death too many, but if we can prevent any of those from happening in Cullman County, praise God,” he said. 

Floyd said working to help abused children is a rewarding field, but it can also lead to burnout in the people who do it, so he encouraged anyone begins to feel disheartened to remember one of the children that they have helped and the situation that they helped that child get out of. 

“Look back and think about one child that you’ve helped, and let that be your motivation going forward,” he said. 

Tyler Hanes can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238.