Aiming to discourage under-aged drinking of alcoholic beverages and in anticipation of Hightstown High School’s senior class celebrations, East Windsor Township Mayor Janice S. Mironov declared April as “Alcohol Awareness Month.”
Mayor Mironov issued a proclamation to Ulrica Infosino, president of Hightstown High School’s After-Prom Committee, and Carolina Garcia, the After-Prom Committee’s secretary.
Mayor Mironov also presented a $1,000 check to the After-Prom Committee from the East Windsor Municipal Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse. The Hightstown High School Senior Prom is set for June 14.
East Windsor Township has made it a point to recognize the potential for alcohol use by under-aged persons, and that’s why the East Windsor Township Council declared April to be Alcohol Awareness Month, Mayor Mironov said.
“We focus on the good work of our After-Prom Committee, which sponsors the ‘After Prom’ event. It provides students with a fun and safe prom evening on their special night,” Mayor Mironov said.
“Under-age drinking is a serious and prevalent problem in all of our communities. It is important that we come together as a community to underscore the dangers of under-age drinking,” she said.
Mayor Mironov praised the After-Prom Committee for taking steps to ensure that the “after prom” event is successful and provides a safe and substance-free environment for the students. There have been no alcohol- or drug-related incidents during the 32-year history of the after-prom event, she added.
Excessive drinking is responsible for the deaths of more than 4,300 under-aged persons every year, according to the mayoral proclamation.
The proclamation states that young people who drive while intoxicated have substantially higher accident rates than adults over 25 years old, and that accident rates increase on prom and graduation nights.
More than 70 percent of young people will have consumed alcohol before they reach 18 years old, the proclamation stated. About 25 percent of high school students will have taken part in in binge drinking – five or more drinks in a short time span.
“That’s a pretty remarkable statistic for that age group,” Mayor Mironov said.
“Every way that we can come together to discourage under-aged drinking is a really important goal,” she said.
Township Council members Peter Yeager and John Zoller, who serve on the East Windsor Municipal Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse, thanked the After-Prom Committee representatives for their efforts.
“I know how much work goes into this event – not just the day of the event, but all of the preparation that really begins the year before,” Yeager said.
“It is nice to have these events to show that you do not need drugs or alcohol to have a good time, and that is really what this event is all about,” Yeager said.
Ulrica Infosino, the After-Prom Committee chairman, acknowledged that it requires many volunteers to help out with the event, whose planning begins in September for the June senior prom.
“We have never had to cancel (for lack of volunteers). It is the go-to place for the high school seniors,” Infosino said.