This was our first year taking the contest nationwide. With a 500% increase in number of submissions from last year, youth from across the US came back with strong, creative, and empowering messages to help their peers stay away from drugs and alcohol.
Much of our success was thanks Evan who answered our call and—not only participated in our contest—but also challenged his peers to do the same. Evan is a junior at Johns Creek High School in Johns Creek, Georgia.
After hearing about our contest, Evan approached his school administration about making participation an official part of their Red Ribbon Drug Awareness week. With the school’s blessing Evan facilitated our Drug Free Slogan workshop to his classmates. Not only did his efforts result in Johns Creek High School having the highest amount of submissions but one of our finalists, to be announced in January, is also from Evan’s school. The winner is announced on January 29th, 2015, at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C.
“We are honored to work with such a dynamic young person as Evan and we are looking forward to continuing our partnership in raising awareness around substance abuse and drug prevention,” said Gunilla Girardo, President of Mentor Foundation USA.
What is a Youth Ambassador? A Youth Ambassador for The Mentor Foundation USA is a highly motivated advocate for the prevention of substance abuse amongst their peers. With support from The Mentor Foundation, Ambassadors will seek creative means by which to engage their peers and local community about the dangers of substance of abuse. They will seek to be an example for others they interact with and create meaningful relationships with other organizations that share similar missions. Interested in being a Youth Ambassador email [email protected].
By Joseph Green, Program Coordinator, Mentor Foundation USA