Schools, nonprofit partner for Alcohol Awareness Month
Published 11:39 am Thursday, April 4, 2019
Sitting near the edge of the brown paper bag, a child looks on at the scene: a father laid passed out on a couch with a alcohol bottle nearby and the drawn-on mother seemed disconnected as she stood by a window.
Written in black marker at the top and the bottom of the bag were the child’s thoughts of the scene: “Have you forgotten I’m here too? All I wanted to do was play.”
Amber Fields, a peer support specialist at Achieving Recovery Together (ART), said the artwork was one of many interpretations of the effects of alcoholism that students brought to life last year during ART’s annual alcohol awareness campaign.
“Some of the bags were just heartbreaking,:” Fields said.
Bag art is back for this year’s campaign as ART is once again working with Clark County Public Schools this April, which is Alcohol Awareness Month. Fields said it’s important to start talking with children and teens about the dangers to prevent alcohol abuse.
“It’s about breaking the cycle,” she said.
George Rogers Clark High School and Campbell Junior High School students will decorate about 650 paper grocery bags which ART will then return to local grocery stores to pass out to patrons.
Community leaders will judge the bag art, and ART will award prizes for the top three bags at each school. Potential prizes include bluetooth earbuds, a bluetooth speaker and an iTunes gift card.
According to its website, Alcohol Awareness Month began in 1987 to “help reduce the stigma so often associated with alcohol addiction by encouraging communities to reach out to the American public each April with information about alcohol, alcohol addiction and recovery.”
This year’s theme is: “Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow.”
“Recovery is possible,” ART Executive Director JuaNita Everman said.
Alcohol addiction is a chronic, progressive disease, genetically predisposed and fatal if untreated. People with an alcohol addiction are also more likely to perform poorly at work.
Fields said because alcohol consumption is considered socially acceptable and is legal, it can be a tough road for alcoholics seeking recovery. Detoxing from alcohol is also a dangerous process, Fields said.
Fields said it’s hard to track the exact number of people dealing with alcoholism or the effects of alcoholism but an estimated 4,000 Clark County residents were in need of treatment for alcoholism last year. Kentucky is also ranked third in the nation for binge-drinking.
Clark County residents can also participate in the national Alcohol-Free Weekend, April 5-7, which is an open invitation to people to engage in three alcohol-free days.
There are also local Alcohol Anonymous meetings Monday through Saturday. For more information regarding support and treatment options visit clarkcountyasap.org/html/support.html and clarkcountyasap.org/html/treatment.html.
And of course, Everman said, ART is always here to help and to show that anyone can recover.
“There is a different way of life,” Everman said.
About Lashana Harney
Lashana Harney is a reporter for The Winchester Sun. Her beats include schools and education, business and commerce, Winchester Municipal Utilities and other news. To contact her, email lashana.harney@winchestersun.com or call 859-759-0015.
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