Thanks to those who made our Millstone Township Alliance fishing derby a success. Despite some clouds and some sprinkles and the fact that we were competing with graduation parties and Father’s Day celebrations, another successful fishing derby took place on June 20.
What does fishing have to do with drug prevention? Everything! It is an opportunity for families to spend quality time together. For almost three hours they talked, had fun together, sharing and learning a new skill, and worked together to help each other out – all without video games, screen time and social media.
Parents were provided with helpful information on how to start the important conversations about drug use, peer pressure and making healthy choices. Since the average of first use of alcohol and other drugs is around 12 years of age, this is the perfect time to start.
The Millstone Township Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse is here to help parents start and keep this conversation going by providing information, resources and educational programs.
As they have done over the past 14 years, Black Bear Lake Camp hosted this event. The staff was extremely helpful in getting things set up and the event went very smoothly.
This year we had some very generous sponsors and supporters whose donations enabled us to provide a “Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs” T-shirt for all of the youth attending the fishing derby. We are also grateful to the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse for providing funding for the overall programming provided by the alliance.
Our corporate sponsors included RE/MAX Homestead West, Heilbrunn Pape, LLC, Five Pro Security & Protection LLC and Frank’s Italian Ices. We also want to thank several corporate supporters as well, including Allstate Insurance-Sharer and Associates Inc., and ERA Central Realty Group. The T-shirts really added “pizzazz” to the event.
In addition, we would also like to thank Albivi Italian Restaurant, Bella Napoli Restaurant and Bagel Bistro for their generous donation of gift cards which will be used as incentives for youth and family events. Special thanks to long-time Millstone resident Don Marantz who is working to bring the “Hooked on Fishing” educational program to Millstone youth. Don also helped out at the fishing derby.
Finally, all of this would not be possible without the dedication of our alliance volunteers, including Susan Cerulo, Frank La- Magna, Catherine Plutino, Joanne Schiumo and Susan Koller.
We still need many more members to help us develop and implement programs that meet the needs of all sectors of the community. We need representatives from the school district, local congregations, local businesses and the recovery community .
We need dedicated members who live or work in Millstone Township and understand the importance of prevention, or whose lives and families may have been touched by addiction. As with most other issues, it takes a community to solve a community problem. Contact us at [email protected] if you want to get involved and help plan our next awareness event.
Helen Varvi
Coordinator
Municipal Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse
Millstone Township