52.0°,
Light Rain Youth Council gets $625K grant
Federal money will fund drug and alcohol awareness programs
The Rockville Centre Youth Council will receive nearly $625,000 in federal grant money over five years to help combat teenage drug abuse.
The Youth Council, part of the Rockville Centre Coalition for Youth — which includes, among other entities, the school district, the Police Department, the village and the Rockville Centre Herald — won the grant from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Drug-Free Communities Support Program, whose goal is to reduce drug abuse among teens with local, community-based programs. The Youth Council will receive $124,999 a year for five years.
“What is so exciting about this recognition is that so many community groups have been working together for so long trying to eliminate the environmental causes that tempt our underage youth to use alcohol or drugs,” said Jeanne Farnan Mulry, pro bono general counsel for the Youth Council, who filed the grant on behalf of the coalition. “This Drug-Free Communities grant will help strengthen our bond and support the work that is already in place.”
The money will be made available to any of the organizations that make up the coalition. For instance, the Rockville Centre Police Department could use some of the funding for a bartender training program, to teach bartenders how to spot fake IDs, or to determine whether bars are selling alcohol to minors.
The money will also help support the school district’s Drug and Alcohol Task Force, a major focus of the Youth Council.
“The most effective efforts to prevent alcohol and drug use among young people happen on the ground in our communities, and supporting those efforts is the best investment our government can make,” U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice said in a release. “This federal funding will allow the Rockville Centre Coalition for Youth to continue building a strong grass-roots movement that will empower kids with the knowledge and support they need to make smart, healthy choices. I’m very pleased that the coalition secured this funding, and I will support their efforts in any way that I can.”
