ANTI-DRUG ORGANIZATION SUPPORTS RED RIBBON WEEK

"Drugs, Not My Kid, Not My County" donated $3,000 toward Red Ribbon
Week for the Habersham County School System.

"Drugs, Not My Kid, Not My County" Director Molly Davis said she was
proud to have donated the amount toward such a worthy cause - a
campaign that reminds students the importance of remaining drug free
- - but the program's efforts won't stop there.

"We think education is the No. 1 way to prevent kids from using drugs
and if you can educate them early then you have a better chance of
them not using them in the future," said Davis. "The key to education
is to continue to teach them and not put it in front of them once a
year, so we'll continue to visit schools throughout the year."

The Habersham County Commission also freed up $3,000 from a fund
through the court system to benefit anti-drug causes by way of fines
from those convicted of drug crimes.

The money went toward bracelets, activity books, stickers, Hacky
Sacks and red ribbons to help Habersham County students celebrate Red
Ribbon Week.

Schools in the county also participated in their own spirit weeks,
designating certain days for certain displays of Red Ribbon Week
spirit, including Wacky Hair Day, Sock Day, Pajama Day, Hat Day and
"Wear Red" Day.

The red ribbon campaign was inspired by the death of Enrique "Kiki"
Camarena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officer who was
investigating Mexico's most-wanted drug lords more than 10 years ago.
Camarena was close to solving the drug operation in which he
suspected Mexican Army officers, police and government officials.

Then one day in February 1985, when Camarena left his office to have
lunch with his wife, five men forced him into a car. Camarena's body
was found a month later in a shallow grave. He had been tortured,
beaten and murdered.

To pay tribute to Camarena, friends and neighbors began wearing red,
satin badges and parents began to form coalitions against the use of
alcohol and other substances, using Camarena as their model and
embracing his belief that even "one person can make a difference." In
doing so, they adopted the red ribbon as a symbol of Camarena's memory.

The first nationwide Red Ribbon campaign was in 1988.