SAFE Newsletter: March 30th, 2021
Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read about Prevention-related information and events in our area. Please help us spread the word about these important topics by forwarding and sharing this information.

The next meeting is this Thursday, April 1st at 11:30 a.m.
Dates For Your Calendar:
  • April 10th Spring Clean-up For Parks and Rec 9:00 a.m.
  • May 6th 11:30-1:00 SAFE Meeting
Excelsior Clean-up
ES Parks and Rec is hosting a Clean-Up on Saturday April 10th and they have invited community groups to sign up. We are putting a SAFE team together! Please join us if you can! They are trying to get a rough count of attendees before the event so email Julia if you plan to attend as part of our group. It would be great to see everyone in person! Friends and Family members welcome...the more, the merrier.

Details:
Date/Time: April 10th at 9:00 a.m.
Where: Meet at Carolyn Schutte Pocket Park
Why: Clean up ditches, streams, rivers, trails, parks in ES
Who: Community Groups and All Individuals
National Prescription Drug
Take-Back Day!
Saturday, April 24th is Take-Back Day. Please clean out medicine cabinets and dispose of medications at the ESPD Lobby Drop-box. Help us get the word out about the importance of prescription drug safety and proper disposal.
Partnership with
Big Brothers Big Sisters KC
We had 12 people attend the first Be A Big session to locally recruit "Bigs" for BBBSKC, including several SAFE members. Thank you for your support of this initiative! Let's keep spreading the word to get more Bigs and Littles signed up! To sign up to Be a Big, go here. To enroll a Little, go here. Here is a flier that you can share with families who are interested in enrolling. We will be hosting another online Be A Big session at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21st. Sign-up link to come.
Youth Connections Magazine
The new edition of SAFE's magazine, Youth Connections, has been published and was mailed out to parents in Excelsior Springs! If you would like some copies delivered to your workplace, let Julia know. Here's the link to the online version. A big Thank You to all those who helped with collecting local photos and advertisements for the magazine!
Northland Prevention Conference
Thank you to those who attended the Northland Prevention Conference on March 5th. There were 18 people who attended as part of SAFE/Excelsior Springs. We appreciate you dedicating this time to prevention!
This Is Quitting
SAFE is collaborating with other regional DFCs on a youth vaping cessation campaign. This is Quitting is a national text-based quit tool by the Truth Initiative and we have our own regional keyword to track regional quit data. If you know youth who want to quit vaping, have them text BREAKFREE to 88709! We need your help to get the word out to youth and the community. We have posters, fliers, and palm cards that you can share! Let Julia know if you'd like some materials delivered to you or download a printable flier here.
Community Champion Award
Congratulations to Lanie Hurt, Director of Nursing for ES School District, for winning last month's Community Champion Award. The Asset of the Month was "Safety". The Community Champion Award is based on the 40 Developmental Assets that help youth to be successful. See more about the Community Champion Award and/or nominate someone here!
Pandemic-Related Mental Health Help
At the last SAFE meeting, Candis Boily talked about several different resources available to our area through Show-Me Hope. Tri-County Mental Health Services will be delivering stress management resources and resource referrals to citizens feeling the stress and emotional strain caused by COVID-19. Here's more info about Show-Me Hope.
SAFE Survey 2021
SAFE receives funding from the Drug Free Communities Grant Program and we will be re-applying for funding in soon. Can you help us by filling out a brief survey about youth substance use?