CITY, GROUP TARGET MAY FOR ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE

Some of the banners proclaimed "I hate drugs." Others pleaded to "Just say
no." But all of the red, white and blue banners had the same messages - "I
will not abuse my body."

With Mayor Karen Stuart passing a proclamation making May Broomfield Asset
Month at the request of the Broomfield Community Assets Coalition, the City
Council allocated about $1,200 to hang anti-drug pledge banners from First
Avenue to 10th Avenue along Main Street.

The red, white and blue banners strung along the top of Main Street's lamp
posts were signed during the anti-drug Red Ribbon week this past fall by
students from Birch Elementary, Kohl Elementary and Aspen Creek K-8. All
were pledges by the students not to use drugs, according to Broomfield
Community Assets Coalition executive director Coleen Myhra.

"It's a pretty powerful statement seeing all of the pledges hanging along
the street," said Myhra. "It would be great if we could get all of
Broomfield's students to sign them."

Broomfield Community Asset Coalition asked for the proclamation and the
money to hang the pledges to raise awareness of what Broomfield as a
community has to offer, executive director Bob Kent said.

In conjunction with May as Community Asset Month, the coalition will hold
two community forums designed to discuss a range of topics, from
adult-youth communication issues to substance abuse prevention.

The forums, to be May 15 at Legacy High School and May 21 at Birch
Elementary, will have a local family leading a discussion on different
communication obstacles and how to avoid them. Along with the communication
discussions, students from each of Broomfield's three high schools will
talk about issues facing today's adolescents, according to Kent.

"May is off to a great start for us," Kent said. "We've gotten a lot of
support from the community and hopefully will see plenty of them there for
our forums."