My favorite call of the month is notifying our chosen charity of our plan to make a donation to their organization. This month was no exception. I called Joy Sweeney, the new director of The Council for Drug Free Youth, to inquire as to what needs could be met with our donation. I was excited to find out about the new program they are hoping to implement, The Save A Life Campaign. And guess what the only hang up was: FUNDING. As usual there is a great program, people willing to offer it, people wanting to have it, and then the hard part: finding people to help sponsor it.

If you are not familiar with The Council for a Drug Free Youth, let me give you a little background. First of all, if you have a child or grandchild that is in Kindergarten through 9th grade your family has benefited from this organization. Safety Kids, Respect, Show Me Players, Cope and Team Challenge are all programs they have probably participated in. They also offer Baseline Training, which is a pull-out-of-school program for 9th graders. These programs address drug and alcohol issues along with smoking, peer relations, and parent/child relations. Each program is tailored for a certain age group and presented in a manner they can relate to. Our kids are faced with messages every day that promote drugs and alcohol in a glamorous fashion. It is nice to know our community has an organization that talks frankly with them about the downside of these behaviors.

Up until now there has not been a program that addresses these issues from 10th-12th grade and, let’s face it, that is when the pressure to use drugs and alcohol really increases. I am excited that this year The Council for a Drug Free Youth is going to add the Save a Life Campaign targeted at high school students. Our donation this month will help make that a possibility. Watch for details of this upcoming program.