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City issues proclamations: Child Abuse Prevention Month, Water Conservation Month; Women’s Club presents Flight of Honor project
Summary
The commission proclaimed April 2025 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and Water Conservation Month and received a presentation from the Women's Club of Winter Haven about its Flight of Honor fundraising project to sponsor female veterans’ travel to Washington, D.C.
Mayor Nathaniel J. Birdsong Jr. and the City Commission issued proclamations at the March 19 meeting declaring April 2025 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and April 2025 as Water Conservation Month in Winter Haven.
Representatives from Heartland for Children—Tyesha Ghent (Community Engagement Specialist) and Katie Parchment (Resiliency Coordinator)—accepted the Child Abuse Prevention Month proclamation and provided data on local child‑welfare caseloads: Heartland staff reported 1,728 children with open child‑welfare cases across Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties as of February 2025 (down from nearly 1,900 the previous year) and said 589 children were removed from their homes during fiscal year 2023–24. Staff said Polk County currently has 1,553 active Department of Children and Families cases and that 1,141 of those involved removals; Heartland said 51.3% of Polk County foster placements are in traditional foster homes and that the region needs roughly 50 additional traditional foster homes in Polk County.
For Water Conservation Month, Cassidy King (Customer Relations Specialist) and Elliot Santiago Legaro (Water Conservation Specialist with Winter Haven Water) accepted a proclamation emphasizing irrigation system evaluations and community education; the proclamation cites April as a typically dry month in Florida and encourages residents to evaluate irrigation efficiency.
The City Commission also received a presentation from Jane McGinnis and Kimberly Burr of the Women's Club of Winter Haven about the GFWC Florida Flight of Honor project, which aims to transport 172 female veterans to Washington, D.C. on March 11, 2026. The Winter Haven Women's Club said it will publish a photo book, Florida is Golden: Richness in Nature, as a fundraiser for the Flight of Honor and asked for community participation in photography submissions and future fundraising activities.
All proclamations and presentations were ceremonial; no formal policy actions resulted from the recognitions.
