by Mike Gallagher for the CMF NewsWire
Posted: 2/18/2009

This March, Midland County high school students will learn about the consequences of drunk driving in a whole new way thanks to an effort by their local Midland Area Community Foundation Youth Action Council (MCYAC).

Students will enter a room on Northwood University’s campus and see a demolished car with fellow students in body bags strewn about the wreckage with grieving parents sobbing over them.

“This will impact the youth and show them how dangerous and deadly alcohol can be,” says MCYAC President J. Cole.

Making youth stop and think about the impact of alcohol abuse and drinking and driving is the impetus behind not only the MCYAC effort, but 10 other awareness programs created by community foundation Youth Advisory Committees (YACs) across the state this spring.

These programs are possible thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health that was re-granted through the Michigan Community Foundations’ Youth Project (MCFYP) of the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF).

MCFYP awarded grants to YACS currently funding alcohol prevention projects or designing and implementing new programming to prevent alcohol abuse.

“A 2008 survey of Michigan YAC members showed that alcohol abuse is one of the most critical issues facing the youth of Michigan today,” says Mike Goorhouse, CMF program associate, Youth and Community Foundations.

“YACs from around the state submitted grant applications to the MCFYP Committee telling us how they would use the money to help educate fellow students about the dangers of alcohol abuse and drunk driving and 11 organizations were chosen,” he says.

“YACs received between $1,000 and $5,000 with a 1-to-1 matching grant requirement and an agreement that they must sponsor some type of an alcohol prevention program before July 1, 2009,” notes Goorhouse. “The YACs selected proposed some very creative and impactful programs.”

Lynn Heil, Midland Area Community Foundation’s YAC coordinator whose youth group received a $3,800 MCFYP grant, agrees.

“Our youth have invested a lot of energy, thought and work into (their grant program) because, clearly, this is an issue that resonated with them,” says Heil. “One thing I’ve learned: they’re ready to make a difference.”

Educating and protecting their fellow students is the driving force behind all the YACs that applied for, and received, MCFYP grants. Those organizations and the amounts they received include:

Joseph Sutkowi, a former YAC member with the Greenville Area Community Foundation and a MCFYP committee member, says he was excited about the variety and quality of the programs and projects the youth grantmakers submitted.

“They came up with unique and creative ideas,” says Sutkowi. “We had some tough decisions when it came time to decide.”

YAC Programs Varied & Effective

Many of the YACs are creating unique alcohol prevention programs and projects designed for maximum impact on students, and in some cases, parents and other adults as well.

 The Michigan Gateway Community Foundation YAC in Buchanan, for example, plans to use its MCFYP grant money to write, produce and broadcast a public service announcement that will be shown for three months at the Wonderland Movie Theatre in Niles, MI, according to YAC Advisor Jayne Lamb.

“We believe this film will motivate youth to make better decisions regarding after-prom and post-graduation plans and will be produced by 20 YAC and Brandywine School of Broadcasting students along with 10 adult volunteers,” says Lamb.

YAC member Jasmine Neldon adds, “The PSA will show alternatives to those celebrations that don’t include alcohol so the kids can make good decisions. It will air twice before each movie in each of the six movie theatres for about 30 to 35 showings a day. We will also post it on YouTube.”

The Saginaw Community Foundation YAC (also called FORCE) will use its grant dollars to partner with the Field Neuroscience Institute in Saginaw to hold a school assembly entitled F.A.D.D. (FORCE Against Destructive Decisions).

The program will feature a young man who is paralyzed from a drunk driving accident who will talk about how alcohol changed his life forever, according to YAC Co-President Hannah Watson.

“We also will bring in emergency room doctors, members of Michigan Flight Care (pilots and doctors who transport critically ill and injured adults and pediatric patients throughout the state) and a Drunk Driving Simulator that students can use,” adds Watson.

The simulator is an actual car that incorporates high-fidelity sound and video that allows a student to drive in a simulated drunk mode. It shows youth the dangerous effects of driving under the influence, such as delayed response to controls and narrowing of the effective field of view known as “tunnel vision,” according to Stephanie Wirtz, head of the foundation’s Youth Initiatives and FORCE coordinator.

Delta County SafeNight is the project name for the Delta County Community Foundation YAC’s effort.

“We want to educate more than 200 local middle school youth of the dangers of alcohol and provide a safe alternative to participating in destructive activities by providing SafeNight dances,” says YAC Advisor Dave Radloff. 

Community Foundation for Delta County YAC President Jack Whitman says two SafeNight dances will be held in April and June and serves the dual purpose of entertaining while educating the area youth to dangers of alcohol while giving them a safe place to hang out with friends.

“We want to show them there are other options instead of drinking,” says Whitman. “We will partner with the Escanaba Civic Center Parks & Recreation staff, the Delta/Menominee Public Health Prevention Specialists, local KEY Clubs and the Delta County Community Violence and Substance Abuse Prevention Council.

To learn more about Michigan YACs or the Michigan Community Foundations’ Youth Project, visit michiganfoundations.org.