Tampa Bay area kids get drug-free start to the school year

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Aug. 1, 2024 - PRLog -- On July 27, thousands of kids descended upon the Bullard Family Foundation Back-to-School Bash at Raymond James Stadium.  Picking up school supplies and free haircuts, families also were given The Truth About Drugs.

"School is a place of learning," said Stephanie Klimke, the Executive Director for the Foundation for a Drug-Free World Florida Chapter. "However, kids are walking into situations where peers are smoking marijuana in the bathrooms or abusing prescritpion drugs. They need to know what drugs are so they can make an informed decision."

At the Back-to-School Bash, the Foundation distributed 2,500 informational booklets on the truth about drugs and more than 700 kids signed the pledge to live drug-free lives.

Educators also wanted to learn more.

"The Foundation provides kits specifically for educators," said Klimke. "These kits include 24 sets of 14 educational booklets on the most commonly abused drugs, a full-length documentary, public service announcements and a step-by-step guide a teacher can follow to provide effective drug education to their students," said Klimke.

"Working together with law enforcement, educators, community leaders, churches and parent groups, we have distributed over 100,000 Truth About Drugs booklets in the last year – almost 2.6 million educational materials since 2015," said Klimke.

"A survey by the American Addiction Centers showed that the two most effective ways to steer kids clear of drugs is to teach them about the possible dangers of drug use as well as hearing testimonials from former addicts – these two principles are the core of the Truth About Drugs program," said Klimke.

For more information about the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, or to order free materials, go to www.drugfreeworld.org.

ABOUT DRUG FREE WORLD

The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. 50 million of drug prevention booklets have been distributed, tens of thousands of drug awareness events have been held in some 180 countries and Truth About Drugs public service announcements have been aired on more than 500 television stations.

Scientology founder and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard wrote, "Research has demonstrated that the single most destructive element present in our current culture is drugs." Mr. Hubbard's research in this field brought unparalleled drug rehabilitation solutions to the world. This, in turn, galvanized the Church and Scientologists to initiate the Truth About Drugs, a secular program through which they have worked with like-minded organizations for more than two decades to empower the millions with the truth about drugs.