SADD chapter takes action in Pelican Narrows
- Angie Merasty | December 08, 2014
The new SADD President and the Pelican Narrows Youth Council (PNYC) were out in full force on Saturday evening November 29, 2014 conducting the Red Ribbon campaign promoting Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD).
The President of SADD and our Jr Chief Cherish Morin and the Council were joined by former Jr Chief, Summer Michel-Stevenson in handing out Red Ribbons to every sober driver and we're proud to say that all the vehicles we stopped got a ribbon!!
The PNYC is made of youth from the ages 12-19 years of age. They are all teens in high school and while it’s not a requirement it’s expected that the PNYC be youth in good standing and that does include not dropping out of school.
The youth in Pelican Narrows are not any different from youth across our vast Province. They have the same wants and desires to complete their high school and move into University, Trade Schools or SIAST.
They enjoy spending time with each other in a safe environment free from alcohol and/or drugs. As adults we can only assist and steer them in the direction they themselves want to go. We act as a support network for them and we provide answers if they seek them. However, it must be stressed that the PNYC runs itself and the only reason it has strengthened and improved in such a short time is because of the youth themselves who became involved in 2011.
The creating of a SADD chapter in our community had been a desire of the Pelican Narrows Youth Council and former Jr. Chief Summer Michel-Stevenson for a long time now. Summer was a very active Jr. Chief and has remained involved from a distance, as she is now away in University.
This was all made possible because of Summer. She was nominated and won a Northern Youth Role Model contest and in her nomination she stated that she wanted to start up a SADD Chapter in her community. Summer won the following awards:
• $1000 to spend in their community (on a community project, event, etc)
• A chance to tour the north in the Fall of 2014 (in fruition now and Summer’s group will be coming to speak to our youth in Pelican Narrows on Dec. 6th)
The creation of SADD and the Red Ribbon campaign was made possible by this award. We were able to purchase flashlights, safety vests and glow sticks for all youth to wear at the RCMP enforced traffic stop, which we will be able to use again in the future.
We are very grateful to Cpl. Sean McPhee and the local RCMP detachment for their support of SADD and our youth! It was a frigid -28 cold and we were only out for an hour, however we managed to stop 25 vehicles and speak to the drivers of these vehicles who received the youth very warmly. We thanked them for stopping and for giving due care and not drinking and driving. This was the first event for SADD in Pelican Narrows and we hope to do more events to promote Students Against Drinking and Driving - Don't Drink and Drive!!
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