Duarte Teens to March Against Drug Use; Drug and Gang Awareness Training for Parents Oct. 23
Duarte teens representing several youth clubs will march and tie red ribbons on trees and poles along Huntington Drive on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 9 a.m. to kick off a week of activities in the city and Duarte schools aimed at encouraging a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. Participating in the march that will start and end at the Duarte Teen Center, 1400 Buena Vista St., will be the Duarte Area Resource Team (D.A.R.T.), Duarte’s Promise – the Alliance for Youth, and Northview Middle School’s Cardinals Helping Youth Live Life (CHYLL).
The march will lead off a day of activities at the Teen Center for kids ages kindergarten through 8th grade and parents. Los Angeles County Probation will offer a drug and gang awareness training workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will also be a free barbeque lunch and kid-oriented entertainment including clowns, music and carnival games. Duarte Public Safety and Think Together, a Duarte Unified School District After-School program are sponsoring the event, utilizing funds from a California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (Cal-Grip) initiative grant to help reduce gang violence, improve public safety, and assist anti-gang efforts.
October 23-29 is Red Ribbon Week in the City of Duarte. The community is encouraged to participate in drug awareness activities. This year’s theme is “A Drug Free Life Rocks”. The Duarte Public Safety Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department will team up with Duarte schools to educate the community’s youth of the dangers of drugs.
Since 1985, communities nationwide have participated in Red Ribbon Week anti-drug campaign activities to educate youth and the public-at-large about the dangers of drug abuse and to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice made by DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who died at the hands of drug traffikers in Mexico while fighting the battle against illegal drugs.
For more information about Duarte’s Red Ribbon Week activities, call Duarte Public Safety Crime Prevention Specialist Aida Torres at (626) 359-5671, ext. 316.
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