DOW DONATION KEEPS DARE IN SCHOOL

A five-figure donation from Dow Chemical Canada will keep the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education (DARE) program in Fort Saskatchewan schools for the
next two years.

Local RCMP who run the program say Dow's $20,000 donation will guarantee
DARE's survival until 2004.

"Thanks to financial support from Dow, students continue to receive the
most comprehensive drug awareness program in Canada. The program gives them
the tools they need to resist the temptation of drugs," said Constable
Helen Meinzinger, community policing coordinator for Fort Saskatchewan RCMP
in a press release.

The program is delivered to all Grade 6, Grade 7 and Grade 10 students in
Fort Saskatchewan by RCMP members. It is designed to help students
recognize and resist both subtle and direct pressures that influence them
to take drugs. It also promotes self-esteem, conflict resolution,
communication and other skills.

The program was first introduced to Fort elementary students in 1996, and
the junior high program was launched in 1998. Fort Junior High was one of
the first junior high schools in Canada to receive the new program.

Senior high students received the program starting in 2000. To date, Fort
Saskatchewan is the only community to support that program.

By 2001, every school in Fort Saskatchewan participated in the DARE program.