Published: June 17, 2009 11:16 pm      

Program planned to help with youth substance abuse

ASHLAND — David Blair knows about the effects drug and alcohol abuse can have on young people. His two sons, both in their 20s, are in jail for crimes related to substance abuse.

Blair said he tried various methods to get through to his sons, including counseling, but nothing worked.

He is now the chairman of an Ashland Elks committee organizing the first Ashland Area Youth Appreciation Day.

He said it’s a way for him to help put young people back on the right path and to provide them with alternatives to substance abuse and other poor choices.

“To me, there’s got to be something else out there,” Blair said.

The event, scheduled for Sept. 12, will focus on things such as drug awareness, negative peer pressure and mental and physical health.

It will take place at the old Elks Country picnic grounds. Groups involved include Pathways Inc., the Ashland Police Department and several area churches.

Boy Scout Troop 101 will be setting up a campsite and camping out the night before the event.

The event will provide education and alternatives to drug and alcohol use, Blair said. Booths for different groups will be set up around the area.

Free food and games will also be provided.

Pam Cable, a member of the steering committee and Elks esteemed lecturing knight, said the event will let young people know there are things to do in the area besides drugs.

Cable came up with the idea to host the event during a walk around Central Park. While walking, she noticed the ice rink couldn’t be used during the summer. She said many teenagers don’t have enough activities offered to them.

She brought the problem to the Elks Drug Awareness Program committee, and Blair, the program chairman, started to come up with new ways to address the issue.

Instead of just having speeches, the group wanted the event to let children know they were appreciated, Cable said.

“It seemed like our ideas were just old and worn out,” she said.

Ashland City Commissioner Cheryl Spriggs, a member of the steering committee, said the event will provide healthy activities for children and allow them to talk about substance abuse issues.

“I think that we do have a drug abuse problem,” she said. “The way we address this is to talk to our children before it becomes a problem.”

Blair said the event will hopefully be the beginning of a bigger movement. He hopes it will help members of the community to create a coalition dedicated to finding solutions to problems with substance abuse in young people in the area.

“I don’t believe that it’s the youths’ fault necessarily,” Blair said of those problems. “I think society failed them.”

He said it was society’s responsibility to find a solution.

Blair said he wants Youth Appreciation Day to become an annual event.

Donald Evenson, youth pastor of Garner Missionary Baptist Church, said the youth department of the church, including about 30 children, will be involved in the event. Evenson is also a member of the steering committee.

The event will help reach out to young people in a way many area churches neglect, he said.

“Instead of trying to reach them where they are, we’re trying to make them come where we are,” Evenson said.

Members of the steering committee for the event will meet this month to begin planning. Fundraising has already started.

The Elks made the first donation of $250, Cable said.

Blair said the committee is asking for donations from $1 to $250 from donors. The cap will allow more members of the community to be involved in supporting the event. It’s also an amount that’s easier for people to meet in a poor economy when many nonprofit events are struggling.

Money not used for the event this year will be rolled over to fund another event, he said.

The event will be planned around how much money the committee is able to raise, Blair said.

Those who want to donate can contact Blair through Elk Lodge 350. Checks should be sent to the lodge at P.O Box 1311, Ashland, KY 41105-1311. They should be made out to Ashland Elks 350 Youth Appreciation.

KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2657.