Federal grant aids Jackson anti-drug efforts
August 26, 2008, GAINESBORO – A $125,000 Drug Free Communities Support Program grant will allow the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of Jackson County to aid local police, set up an office and provide programming for at-risk youth, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon announced.
“Numerous stories from drug treatment centers indicate that youth living in rural areas, who feel there isn’t anything else for them to do, will turn to drugs and alcohol to fill that void,” Gordon said. “These grant monies will enable the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of Jackson County to have a bigger presence and provide alternatives for local youth.”
President Robert Cole said the Coalition plans to:
- establish an office in Gainesboro and hire staff;
- pay for at-risk children to attend Rainbow Camp, which teaches resistance to peer pressure, among other things;
- support Project Graduation, a lock-down event with contests and prizes that helps keep high school graduates off the streets on graduation night; and
- purchase equipment to assist the local sheriff’s office with sobriety checkpoints, undercover and surveillance work, and enforcement of alcohol laws.
“We currently work out of our homes,” Cole said. “This will allow us to have a presence in town and create more awareness of our efforts.” Cole works as a volunteer for the Coalition, which was created in 2002.
The Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy, administers the Drug Free Communities Support Program.
