GREENFIELD — Neighborhoods Against Substance Abuse recently celebrated a year of advocacy against drug abuse in Hancock County, honoring local advocates for their work to educate youth and keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands.
NASA announced a wide range of grants for 2020 programs, including to three county school corporations for prevention and education efforts; to several local nonprofits for treatment and intervention; and to the Hancock County Drug Task Force for criminal justice services.
The organization’s total grants for 2020 total over $100,000.
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The grants were made at the organization’s annual meeting on Friday, Nov. 15.
Sgt. Christine Rapp, a deputy with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and a NASA board member, said the organization worked on several successful projects this year, including filming two anti-vaping public service announcements with its youth council that have aired on local television.
Rapp said NASA’s data shows that rates of alcohol abuse among local high schoolers have declined since the organization began tracking data.
“We’re way ahead of where we were in 2013,” she said.
Other accomplishments celebrated by NASA included having successful fundraising events and obtaining a state grant to continue youth education efforts.
During the event, NASA presented the Stephen T. Dyer Community Service Award to Roy Ballard and the Community Partner Award to the Hancock County Tobacco-Free Coalition.
Ballard, who has also volunteered for many years as the director of the Hancock County Solid Waste Management District, has partnered with NASA on many drug pick-up events that help county residents safely dispose of leftover, unwanted prescription medication. Ballard recently retired from Purdue Extension Hancock County.
“It’s been a longstanding partnership with NASA on making sure those medications and such get picked up,” Ballard said. “Of course, NASA’s goal is to keep those out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them. Ours is that too, but from the district’s perspective, we also want to keep those medications out of the drinking water. It’s a win-win for us.”
Ballard said he was surprised and honored to receive the award.
“Really, it’s award for everyone that’s involved in these collection events, spending their Saturdays away from home to help collect. I think it’s a team award for all those who helped,” he said.
Tobacco-Free Coalition director Brandee Bastin accepted the Community Partner Award for the organization’s work with NASA to combat vaping among young people.
NASA director Tim Retherford said the issue of vaping has become an important one for advocates against substance abuse.
“Brandee and I have presented over the last year and a half together on the vaping issue in schools and in community settings,” Retherford said. “Vaping numbers among our teens are at an all-time high and are continuing to rise. We’re not going in the right direction yet, but we’re working together along with a lot of other partners in our community to get that trend to go back down.”
Bastin said vaping presents a major challenge for advocates, but work to educate local children on the real risks of the practice will continue.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in the 17 years that I’ve been here, to see an epidemic like this affecting our children,” Bastin said.
NASA also recognized 13 local children whose anti-drug artwork was chosen to feature on the 2020 NASA calendar. Eastern Hancock Elementary School fifth-grader Gracie Coleman’s drawing was chosen for the cover.
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Fifth and sixth grade students at area schools had the opportunity to participate in a poster contest focusing on drug awareness, with winning illustrations featured in NASA’s 2020 calendar. Copies of the calendar can be picked up at NASA’s office at 98 N. East Street.
Cover: Gracie Coleman, fifth grade, Eastern Hancock Elementary School
January: Cierra Watts, fifth grade, Maxwell Intermediate School
February: Lydia Rivers, fifth grade, Fortville Elementary School
March: McKenzie Koch, fifth grade, Eastern Hancock Elementary School
April: Macy Jewell, sixth grade, New Palestine Intermediate School
May: Elayna Stanfield, fifth grade, Mt. Comfort Elementary School
June: Hannah Wittgren, sixth grade, Eastern Hancock Middle School
July: Elijah Taylor, sixth grade, Zion Lutheran
August: Carson Anderson, fifth grade, Eastern Hancock Elementary School
September: Savannah Barrett, sixth grade, Eastern Hancock Middle School
October: Maddux Tindall, fifth grade, Zion Lutheran
November: Ellieanna Armstrong, sixth grade, New Palestine Intermediate School
December: Lucy Hickman, sixth grade, Fortville Intermediate School
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Prevention and education
Mt. Vernon High School
Hancock County DARE
Eastern Hancock High School and Middle School
Greenfield-Central High School and Middle School
Hancock County Tobacco-Free Coalition
Alcohol Literacy Challenge
The Landing
Treatment and intervention
Community Corrections
Mental Health Partners
Talitha Koum Recovery House
Brandywine Community Church
The Landing
Criminal justice services
Hancock County Drug Task Force
Underage Drinking Task Force
Fortville Police Department
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