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The range of activities for Substance Abuse
Awareness Month (SAAM) offered by Substance Abuse Prevention
Services (SAPS) in Charlotte exemplified the lively range of
activities held by North Carolina organizations during Red
Ribbon Month.
First, SAPS was able to give the community an early heads-up
about events through the SAAM Radio Talk Show, on Real Talk with
Jim Black on the last Thursday of September. The next morning
SAPS began red ribbon month events with the SAAM Breakfast at
St. Andrews Episcopal Church, featuring Molly Barker as speaker.
Saturday, September 30, completed kick-off activities with the
SAAM Rally at Naomi Drenan Center, where participants celebrated
SAAM with food, games and entertainment.
SAPS issues presentations for the month included a workshop on
Underage Drinking at the Chemical Dependency Center and
Addiction: A Family Disease, featuring one family’s story of
addiction and recovery, hosted by the Dilworth Center. Family
Dynamics of Addiction was also the topic of a presentation the
following week at the CDC. UNC-Charlotte was brought into the
month’s calendar with a presentation by on of the stars from
MTV’s Real World in a discussion with students about alcohol
abuse.
On October 26, SAPS hosted their annual luncheon with the Youth
Showcase and awards, as part of a day-long conference titled,
“Our Youth Are Calling”, addressing such topics as how caring
adults can support youth, violence prevention, and the future of
prevention strategies in underage drinking. Breakout sessions
included: Caring Adults Supporting Youth, by Charles Odell; What
Role You Play in Violence Prevention, by Rodger Dinwiddie;
Underage Drinking: Where Do We Go From Here, by Michael Eisen
and Debbie Daves, and Helping Youth Find Their Personal Power,
by Adrian Glover.
Red ribbon month events organized by SAPS concluded on October
30 with a SAAM Reception, a Youth Drama, and the SAAM Vigil, all
hosted at the Afro American Cultural Center.
The Next
Step
Editor: Bebe
Somerville
Designer: Virginia Hart
Partnership for a Drug-Free
NC
665 W. Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
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