Yorktown’s Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK) members completed the second Yorktown Sticker Shock Campaign which is designed to reinforce public awareness about the minimum drinking age law.

“Preventing underage drinking is everyone’s responsibility within our community,” ASK Executive Director Lisa Tomeny said. “Limiting youth access to alcohol is one of the many ways we can work to prevent youth from drinking.”

Students placed “Hey You! It is illegal to provide alcohol for people under 21!” stickers on multi-packs of beer, wine coolers and any other alcohol products that appeal to underage drinkers.

ASK officials said the goal of the project is to discourage adults and older peers (those who are 21 or over) from providing alcohol to minors.

This year’s participating stores were: Courtesy Shell (Shrub Oak), 7 Eleven (Cortlandt Manor), Commerce Street Beer & Soda, 7Eleven (Yorktown Heights), Chestnut Mobil, A&P (Yorktown Heights), Shell (Yorktown Heights), and Shell (Yorktown Heights).

The stores were encouraged to place signs, identical to the stickers, on the windows of refrigerators containing alcohol.

“We commend the retail establishment that voluntarily participated in this year’s Sticker Shock Campaign,” Tomeny said.

The purpose of Sticker Shock is to reinforce public awareness about the minimum drinking age law by placing stickers on multi-packs of beer, wine coolers and any other alcohol products that appeal to underage drinkers.  The stores are also encouraged to place signs, identical to the stickers, on the windows of refrigerators containing alcohol.  The goal of this project is to discourage adults and older peers (those who are 21 or over) from providing alcohol to minors.

The campaign consisted of teams of young people, accompanied by an adult chaperone, placing stickers on multi-packs of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine coolers, etc.) at participating stores.  The stickers read, “Hey You!!  It is ILLEGAL to provide alcohol for people under 21!”.  This year’s participating stores were: Courtesy Shell (Shrub Oak), 7 Eleven (Cortlandt Manor), Commerce Street Beer & Soda, 7 Eleven (Yorktown Heights), Chestnut Mobil, A&P (Yorktown Heights), Shell (Yorktown Heights), & Shell (Yorktown Heights).

“Preventing underage drinking is everyone’s responsibility within our community”, said Lisa Tomeny, ASK Executive Director.  “Limiting youth access to alcohol is one of the many ways we can work to prevent youth from drinking.  We commend the retail establishment that voluntarily participated in this year’s Sticker Shock Campaign.”

Check Out photos from the campaign!

YORKTOWN, N.Y. – The Yorktown community will once again come together to become first responders to support teens and families in crisis who are dealing with abuse, depression and violence.

The Alliance for Safe Kids will host the third annual Save A Life forum from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center. The program was formed in response to more than 25 deaths in Yorktown and Cortlandt Manor attributed to drugs and alcohol abuse, depression, bullying and violence, according to a statement from the organization. Previous programs have helped hundreds of teens and their parents speak about various forms of abuse and how to deal with such problems as suicidal thoughts and depression.

“This originally came right on the heels of what seemed to be an acceleration of tragedies a few years back surrounding young adults around our community,” said Lisa Tomeny, executive director at the Alliance for Safe Kids. “The idea is to have a forum to give people in our community some basic skills to be the first responders and recognize the signs of suicidal thoughts or depression or abuse and have some knowledge of what to do.”

This year’s program includes speakers Michael Nerney and Javier Sanchez. Nerney is a consultant in Substance Abuse Prevention and Education with more than 33 years of experience in the field. Sanchez, who is from Youth to Youth International, has been an advocate for youth and has been encouraging teens to realize that once they catch a vision and a sense of purpose for their life, there are no limits to their potential, according to the statement.

“We’re really fortunate to have both of them as speakers,” Tomeny said. “We want to recruit as many people in this community to get informed because that’s really the only way to start helping and turn the tide. Hopefully this will lead us closer to the day when we no longer have tragedies like this.”

Free registration is available at the group’s website at www.savealife2013.eventbrite.com.

Forty-four students from the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts graduated from Yorktown Youth Court last week.

The 2013 commencement ceremony was hosted by Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK), a non-profit organization that represents all sectors of the community working together to provide a safety net for youth and families.

Founded in 2007, the ASK Yorktown Youth Court is a program based on a national model developed by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The Youth Court is a voluntary alternative to Family Court and the criminal justice system. It is organized and run by teens, adjudicating misdemeanor cases involving other teens with the goal of reducing juvenile delinquency.

The students in this year’s graduating class were:

In a mock arraignment Yorktown and Lakeland students sentenced a young man Wednesday night to 25 hours of community service for having stolen an iPhone and iPod from a Yorktown High School student’s locker.

During that mock trail, students showcased to friends and family what they have learned about the various aspects of the law over the last weeks. They will soon take on real-life court cases prosecuting other teens who have been found guilty of misdemeanors or violations.

Students, members of the 2013 Yorktown Youth Court graduating class, received their certificates Wednesday.

“Congratulations to you all,” Yorktown Justice Sal Lagonia told the students. “You’ve put a lot of work. Nobody gave this to you. You earned it. And you should be applauded for that.”

The Alliance for Safe Kids’ Yorktown Youth Court program was founded in 2007. It is a voluntary alternative to Family Court and the criminal justice system. It is organized and run by teens, adjudicating misdemeanor cases involving other teens with the goal of reducing juvenile delinquency, according to officials.

Youth Court members serve in the roles of judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, jury, clerk, and bailiff. The legal and binding procedure determines a fair and restorative sentence in the form of community service hours for the youth offender.

Local officials in attendance of the graduation were Yorktown Supervisor Michael Grace, councilmen Vishnu Patel and Dave Paganelli, county legislators Michael Kaplowitz and John Testa, and state assemblyman Steve Katz. Yorktown detectives Brian Shanahan and Sean Lewis, as well ASK board president Tricy Cushner and executive director Lisa Tomeny offered encouragement to the graduates.

Below is the list of graduates, members of the Class of 2013 (from both the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts):

Yorktown Youth Court is a program developed and directed by the Alliance for Safe Kids. P.O. Box 106, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598. For more information, visit www.AllianceforSafeKids.org.

Dozens of students from Lakeland and Yorktown Central school districts were honored Wednesday night as graduates of Yorktown Youth Court’s class of 2013.

The youth court was founded in 2007 and is organized and run by teens, adjudicating misdemeanor cases involving other teens with the goal of reducing juvenile delinquency. Youth Court members serve in the roles of judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, jury, clerk and bailiff. It is a legal and binding procedure that determines sentence in the form of community service hours for the youth offender.

The graduates participated in a mock arraignment Wednesday of a Yorktown High School student accused of stealing an iPod from a fellow student’s locker. The plaintiff argued for 40 hours of community service, the defendant suggested 15 hours, but the judge compromised with 25 hours.

The ceremony attracted a slew of elected officials, including Assembly member Steve Katz, County Legislators John Testa and Mike Kaplowitz, Yorktown Supervisor Michael Grace and Council members Dave Paganelli and Vishnu Patel.

“You have a lot of tough decisions to make, and when you make bad decisions, you don’t end up in this kind of a room for fun,” said Grace, a trial lawyer and former attorney for Yorktown. “My hope is that through this process, you learn. And what you learn, you bring that to your community, which is your peers in your school. And hopefully teach the lessons that you’re taught here, because they’re good ones. They’re good ones for the rest of your life.”

The ceremony was hosted by the Alliance for Safe Kids and held at Yorktown Justice Court. The class of 2013 is:

• Zachary Abbate
• Joshua Beck
• Nicholas Belmonte
• Logan Boilen
• Sean Boyle
• Richie Campanaro
• Ryan Cegielski
• Jack Christensen
• Kaitlyn Comerford
• Tyler Cunnington
• John Del Priore
• Thomas Donatelli
• Brandon Dumoit
• Mason Dyslin
• Jamison Embury
• Hunter Embury
• Scott Epstein
• Timothy Forbes
• Conor Frawley
• Skyler Gironda
• Alban Hoxhaj
• Greg Karales
• Akshay Karve
• Robert Kohl
• Daniel Kramer
• Robert Kramer
• Caileigh Lampersberger
• Brendan Lawlor
• Andrew Levin
• Sam Levin
• Carlton James Mackay
• Vincent Manghise
• Sara Mongno
• Michael Naccarella
• Keegan O’Connor
• Christopher Pinto
• Frank Raguso
• Christina Raguso
• Gregory Rivera
• Gabriel Rivera
• Robert Sam Spallone
• Clare Spallone
• Joey Vulaj
• Joseph V. Woska

Red Ribbon Week has grown into the most far-reaching and well-known drug prevention campaign in America. It began to honor a drug enforcement agent who was killed in 1985 while working undercover in Mexico. In response to his murder, friends and family wore red ribbons in memory of his crusade against illegal drug use in this country. Today, the red ribbon has come to symbolize the importance of discussing and choosing a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

The Alliance for Safe Kids will be promoting Red Ribbon Week in cooperation with the Town of Yorktown by placing red ribbons throughout the community. Our youth will also be participating in age-appropriate prevention activities during the week at their schools. The ribbons serve as a reminder to our families to take the time to discuss the concepts of Red Ribbon Week.

“Research shows that children are less likely to use alcohol and other drugs when parents and other role models in the community are clear and consistent in their opposition to substance use and abuse” said Lisa Tomeny, Executive Director. “Red Ribbon Week reminds us all to continue our efforts in working together to be a drug-free community,” said Tomeny

For tips on how to initiate the conversation, please visit www.AllianceforSafeKids.org.

As prescription drug abuse sweeps the nation, proactive citizens of Yorktown are collaborating to keep our neighborhood a safe and healthy place. What started as a simple discussion about potential Girl Scout final projects, the prescription drug box at the Yorktown Police Department has become a simple solution for a rapidly-growing problem.

The Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK) is a non-profit organization focused on preventing destructive behaviors in youth through education and community-oriented programs. One of the behaviors ASK recently aimed to avert was prescription drug abuse, which reportedly causes a death every 19 minutes in the United States. Young adults are especially susceptible to this addiction according the Lisa Tomeny, Executive Director of the Alliance for Safe Kids. “Kids think that because these drugs come from a doctor, they’re safe,” Tomeny said. “There are no needles or need for smoking like traditional illegal drugs, so more people will try these drugs and believe them to be safe.”

Samantha Greene, a long time Girl Scout and participant in the ASK youth court, first became aware of this “epidemic” as classified by the Department of Health, through media reports or deaths and injuries across the nation. “The reason I chose this project was because I noticed the increasing number of teen deaths due to prescription drug abuse in the news and I wondered why there wasn’t much advocacy for it,” Greene said. “I knew this was an issue that needed to be brought to attention to the community and this project sounded like the perfect way to do it.” Naturally, when she heard about an ASK project relating to these dangerous drugs that required assistance, Greene was the first to sign up.

The Alliance for Safe Kids planned to install a box in the police department for locals to anonymously drop off their unused or expired prescription drugs at any time, to be disposed of safely. Without this drop off box, residents would only be able to dispose of their drugs on the infrequent national or county take back days. Greene not only worked on the project and saw it to its completion, but she also made prescription drug abuse awareness and prevention the focus of her Gold Award project.

Yorktown Police Lt. Richard Malan says the box serves an important function for residents. “The main focus is to keep dangerous substances out of the hands of children in our community and out of the waterways when disposed of improperly, such as flushing them down the toilet,” Malan said. He added that the drugs are ultimately burned, as there is no safer way to dispose of them.

Though the drop off box is now operational at the Yorktown Police Department, for Samantha Greene, the work has just started. Gold Award is the highest award a girl scout can achieve, and requires an 80 hour community service project that benefits the community. To fulfill this requirement, Greene plans on distributing educational flyers to residents providing important information on prescription drug abuse. She also plans on creating a sign to inform locals about the drop off box. Finally, she hopes to create a Public Service Announcement video to be shown in health classes, informing students about the dangers of prescription drug addiction. This peer-to-peer approach will ideally be more successful in reaching out to students and making them understand the risks involved with such substances. “I had heard about prescription drugs before, but I wondered why I hadn’t heard about the dangers of these drugs,” said Green.

Greene’s parents are glad their daughter chose a project that has a chance to impact to many. “Our whole family is so proud,” said Elizabeth Greene, Samantha’s mother. “We know this is a big undertaking, but we are confident Samantha will succeed and make the town a safer place.”

A permanent prescription drug drop box sponsored by the Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK) and the Yorktown Police Department has been installed at the police headquarters for residents to safely dispose of unused, unwanted and expired medicine – both for prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

“Prescription drug abuse is increasing at alarming rates, especially for young adults,” said Lisa Tomeny, executive director of Alliance for Safe Kids. “The numbers speak for themselves.”

• Prescription drug abuse results in one death every 19 minutes in the US – according to the Center for Disease Control which has classified it as an “epidemic.”
• 2.4 million Americans abused prescription drugs for the first time in 2011—one-third of those Americans were teenagers.
• 70 percent of users get the drugs from relatives or friends

Teens are accessing these drugs in the comfort of home, Tomeny said, and it can be as easy as opening a cupboard, drawer or medicine cabinet.

The non-profit organization and the police department have been participating in the national take-back days but they wanted to provide a safe and secure place where the community could go at any time to dispose of prescription drugs and not have to wait for months or for a particular day.

“The drop box provides an anonymous, easy and environmentally safe way to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs that are currently in the home,” Tomeny said.

Samantha Greene, a Yorktown High School student, has joined Alliance for Safe Kids in the effort to raise awareness and inform peers and adults of the danger of prescription drug misuse.

As part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Greene will undertake a number of initiatives that will provide information, dispel myths and offer steps that all members of the community can take to prevent prescription drug misuse.

“The reason I chose this project was because I noticed the increasing number of teen deaths due to prescription drug abuse in the news and I wondered why there wasn’t much advocacy for it,” the high school student said. “I knew this was an issue that needed to be brought to attention to the community and this project sounded like the perfect way to do it.”

Her project will feature a video that she hopes will be used in conjunction with school health curriculum as a peer-to-peer approach in providing essential information to teens.

The prescription drug drop box is available at all times. It is anonymous and users will not have to disclose any information when using it. No liquids, needles or syringes are accepted at this time. The box is emptied at regular intervals and the contents are safely incinerated under the supervision of the Yorktown Police Department.

The Alliance for Safe Kids is a Yorktown non-profit organization founded in 2002 and incorporated in 2006 as a charitable organization. For more information, visit their website atwww.AllianceforSafeKids.org.