Welcome to the first edition of our new quarterly newsletter. We have had a tremendous year and lots of new initiatives coming in 2025. If you haven’t heard, SAFE is a community-based organization whose mission is to engage our community in working together to prevent and reduce substance use. We are honored to collaborate with many valuable public and private sector partners to create a healthier and safe community.
We are thrilled to report that we were awarded $359,301 from Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office to support our drug-impaired driving initiatives. You can read more about the DMV grant in this edition.
We are also working to update our website and will send out an e-blast once the site goes live. It is our hope that the new website is more user friendly and focuses on a variety of events and resources directly related to our organization.
In January of 2024, SAFE was awarded a 3-year Community Innovation grant for a total of $99,000 from Virginia Foundation for Health Youth to develop and implement a youth-tobacco use prevention campaign focused on reducing youth exposure to second-hand smoke. We are currently working with our Tobacco & Nicotine Task Force members to develop campaign materials, so stay tuned.
In May, SAFE’s Board of Director, Dr. Mervin Daugherty, stepped down as he began his retirement and relocation to another state. Dr. Daugherty was honored at a luncheon in June and presented with an Award of Excellence for his unwavering support and dedication to SAFE. He will be missed tremendously.
Prior to Dr. Daugherty’s departure, the SAFE Board of Directors appointed a new Board Chair, Heather Snyder. Heather is a nurse with Chesterfield County Public Schools and has served on the SAFE Board for over 3 years. We welcome her and thank her for stepping into the role of Board Chair.
In August and September, SAFE staff members and volunteers attended twenty-two Back to School Nights and Orientations, distributing over 31,000 resources to parents. Also in August, SAFE partnered with CCPD and the SAFE Opioid & Heroin Prevention Task Force for Overdose Awareness Day in which volunteers visit local hotels and motels to distribute over 5,700 opioid resources to include Narcan to hotel managers in an ongoing effort to meet the needs of high-risk individual in Chesterfield County. We have also been attending ongoing New Drivers’ Licenses Ceremonies where new drivers and their parents are provided with a variety of resources related to impaired driving.
SAFE staff have been working hard to revitalize the Stay Smart Presentation that is provided to all 6th grade students in Chesterfield County Public Schools. The new version will be called STAY SAFE.
In October, SAFE partnered with Colonial Height Public Schools, DEA, Virginia Army National Guard, Colonial Heights Police, Fire, and EMS, students from Virginia State University for a Red Ribbon Week Event. At this event, students heard messages from a DEA agent and VSU student athletes about the importance of living a drug-free life. At the conclusion of the event, students got a chance to witness a Lakota helicopter landing, and visited various “stations” where they were able to climb in a military tactical vehicle, try on DEA tactical gear, watch a K9 and drone demonstration and more.
In November, we held our Annual Meeting. This year’s theme was “The Power of ‘WHY’ in Prevention”. The keynote speaker was Coach Michael Coleman who led the audience on a journey to discover their “why” for being involved with the substance abuse prevention work that we do. SAFE also highlighted our successes in 2024 and presented several awards to individuals who played a key role in the work that we have done this year. Thanks to all who attended and all who volunteered!
To those reading this edition, thank you for your continued commitment to the substance abuse prevention movement. Your dedication to this cause allows our organization the opportunity to provide the tools and resources to create a safe, healthy, and drug-free community. If you are not already involved with SAFE, we invite you to join us in our efforts.
Kindly,
Kathy Reed, MA, ICPS
Executive Director
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