Giving Tuesday for the Hedrick Medical Center Foundation
Welcome to Giving Tuesday for the Hedrick Medical Center Foundation!
This year for Giving Tuesday, we are focusing our fundraising on the D.A.R.E. Program in the Chillicothe R-2 Schools. The HMC Foundation, the Chillicothe Police Department, and the Chillicothe R-2 School District are in partnership to re-start the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in schools.
A donation of $25 will sponsor one student in the D.A.R.E. Program. It will provide their student workbooks, supplementary material, educational tools, etc. We are also looking for 15 sponsors of $100 or more to be able to give each 5th grader who completes the D.A.R.E. program a t-shirt at graduation to celebrate their hard work, and to help spread the word about the D.A.R.E. program.
Chillicothe R-2 School Resource Officer Eric Menconi attended the national D.A.R.E. training program in September 2021 has started to introduce the program, curriculum, and activities into the schools. He is beginning with the fifth grade using the full curriculum, and is also working with first, second, and sixth grades to create a broader impact in our district. One of our long-term goals is to be able to add in the curriculum that D.A.R.E. offers for high school students—the information acts as a "refresher" to the topics and concepts—at another pivotal time in our students' school journey.
There have been several one-time costs associated with starting this program as well as the ongoing expenses for materials, student workbooks, program graduation supplies, etc. We hope you will donate to help get this important program started in our community.
Our Foundation Board, as well as the CPD and the Chillicothe schools, feel that this is a pivotal time for our community and our children. COVID-19 isolation, limited school and social interactions, and family financial challenges have made life more difficult for a number of our students and their families, and substance abuse has become one of the results. We are seeing larger numbers of substance abuse related health issues in our emergency department, in our health clinics, and in our community. We want to make a difference in the lives of these children and families and feel strongly the D.A.R.E. program in our schools is a very positive first step in that journey.
Many years ago, Chillicothe had a D.A.R.E. program in the schools but due to funding cuts, outdated curriculum, and lack of personnel, the program was discontinued. Since that time, the national D.A.R.E. organization has revamped and updated its curriculum and programming to make it more applicable to the issues and challenges students face today. We hope that by starting with these students, at these early ages, we can begin to break the cycle of addiction, abuse, and the mental and physical health issues—direct and indirect—that arise from the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol.
Please consider supporting the D.A.R.E. program in our community with a donation of $25, $50, $100 or more. You will be helping us to make a difference in the lives of our students and their families.
