DARE clothing drop boxes such as this one behind A&P Liquors, Pearl Street, generate funds to maintain the anti-drug abuse program in the borough. METUCHEN — The proceeds that the police department gets from the New Jersey DARE clothing recycling program keeps the anti-drug and -alcohol education initiative running in the borough.
Police Cpl. Dave Liantonio said the department first joined the clothing recycling program 12 years ago.
“It was not until a couple years ago that we realized that we amassed a good amount in the account,” he said, referring to the $34,000 that had been accumulated. That amount has since remained stable from year to year.
Liantonio said the account can only be used for things related to the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, such as field trips, graduation ceremonies and materials such as pencils and Tshirts. In past years, bicycles and iPods were purchased and raffled.
“We can’t say, ‘The department needs a new police vehicle, so let’s use these funds [to purchase it],’ ” he said.
During the school year, police officers teach the DARE program to the sixth-graders at Edgar Middle School and St. Francis Cathedral School. Approximately 300 students graduate from the program each year.
Liantonio said the proceeds resulting from the bins have come at a time when other area towns are doing away with the DARE program because there is no money in their budgets.
“This is how we are subsidizing our program. We are not putting out any of our money,” he said.
Edison had to cut its DARE program last year in order to reduce costs, consolidate services and put more police officers on the road. Officials there have been working with the township’s school district to come up with cost-efficient ways to continue the program.
Liantonio said the Metuchen community as a whole is to be thanked for the continuation of the program in the borough.
“At one time we had 10 bins out there. Now we have five out there in different locations, including behind the A&P liquor store, the public works site and the Krauszers lot,” he said. “The bins usually bring in approximately $3,000 each year.”
All those bins have the New Jersey DARE recycling logo on them. Liantonio said he is always looking for new locations to place the bins.
The DARE program was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles, Calif. It has since been implemented in 75 percent of the nation’s school districts.
The Metuchen Police Department has been teaching DARE for the past 20 years. In 1987, retired Police Chief James Keane and retired Sgt. William McDuffie were the first group to be trained in DARE in Virginia.
Anyone interested in volunteering to place a clothing bin on their property may contact police Cpl. David Liantonio at 732- 632-8547.