DARE TO BE EMPOWERED

Merritt's DARE coordinator knows how to let a sticker do the talking. The
sticker, with a colour photograph of the RCMP's Volkswagen Beetle Community
Policing car, reads: "Just say No to drugs."

It's what the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is partly about. It
doesn't just teach youth how to say no. The program actually gives children
a well-rounded education on how to be empowered, how not to be pushed
around; skills which will serve them well in a variety of settings.

Feedback for the program has been great, says Peppler, who set up a booth
at the Overwaitea grocery store last week.

"Everyone's come by and read the literature and chatted about the program,"
says Peppler.

On Thursday, Peppler had a bit of help manning the booth from southeast
district DARE coordinator Const. Bob Collins.

They were helping promote the Overwaitea points fundraiser, where the store
would match every point donated and pay it out in cash to the DARE program.

"Every dollar raised here stays here," says Peppler. "Money raised in
Merritt goes to fund the Merritt DARE program."

While he didn't know the tally at the time, he said they need 58 workbooks
to provide the one-hour-per-week program to Central elementary school Grade
6 students this fall over the course of 17 weeks.

"It costs about $10 to $15 per student to deliver the program, including
books, prizes, t-shirts, and certificates."

Peppler was trained to be able to deliver the DARE program by Cpl. Sean
Neary, who recently transferred out of Merritt.

"The program has had really good reception here in Merritt," says Peppler.
"Parents get involved in the program through the PAC, helping with the
graduation ceremony or with donating money."

Parent involvement in the program is really important, as it helps
reinforce the lessons learned. Additionally, it's important for the parents
to be part of many of the students' first significant contact with a police
officer.

In Merritt, the Sunrise Rotary Club is a major supporter of the DARE program.