The Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK) invites the community to take a visible stand against drugs by celebrating Red Ribbon Week from October 23-31.
Red Ribbon Week, the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the nation, is your opportunity to get the ongoing conversation started. Red Ribbon Week raises awareness of drug use and the problems related to drugs facing our community, and encourages parents, educators, business owners, and other community organizations to promote drug-free lifestyles.
This year’s theme is “Send a message. Stay drug free” and the celebration will kick off in Yorktown Heights on October 23 with red ribbons hung around the town of Yorktown. The theme is a call to action to speak out in support of healthy choices. The theme is also a reminder that by staying drug free, you are sending a message to yourself and others about how much you value yourself, your overall health, your community and your future.
“Red Ribbon Week encourages our entire community to adopt healthy, drug-free lifestyles,” said Liz Talbert, Executive Director at ASK. “It gives us the opportunity to be vocal, and visible, in our efforts to achieve a drug-free community.”
The red ribbon symbolizes a continuing commitment to reducing the demand for illicit drugs in our communities. In 1985, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Enrique S. “Kiki” Camarena was killed by drug-traffickers. Shortly after Camarena’s death, citizens from his hometown of Calexico, California, began wearing red ribbons to remember him and commemorate his sacrifice. Congress established Red Ribbon Week in 1988.
