Cross-age connections not only enhance many educational programs, but also help to strengthen the fabric of community.

Another Reach Out program capitalizing on cross-age matches is our Mentor Program. Middle school students are joined with adults who wish to give back and to pass along the love. “It’s important when you’re a teenager to have someone outside the family to confide in.” The resulting response from the mentee: “She is like a counselor to me. And she keeps all her promises!”

We also see care flowing the opposite way, from youth to the older generation. After a Program Coordinator recently taught the dangers of smoking and mentioned Reach Out’s free smoking cessation classes, one second grader called her at the office later in the day to ask for our address. “I want to tell my brother where to go for that class. He’s 20 and I don’t want him to die.”

Feedback like this affirms our programs’ effectiveness in preventing substance abuse through education and intervention. We’re also pleased to report that our audited financial statements verify Reach Out’s efficiency: Administrative costs constitute only 4% of the entire budget, a record of great interest in these belt-tightening times to our funders and supporters.

When Judge Richard Garner and friends started Reach Out 35 years ago, the ravages of drug abuse were just beginning to appear among youth in the West End. Opportunities for drug involvement – as well as public awareness – are both so much greater now. But one thing remains the same: It takes a community to raise healthy children.

We invite you to join the community campaign for healthy and productive lives. We invite you to invest in the very best in prevention today for drug-free tomorrows.

Your Donation Will Provide...

$1,000
$500
$250
$100
$50
$25

 . . . . . ten days of drug education for pregnant teens
 . . . . . sponsorship of Reach Out Info Line for one month
 . . . . . Fatal Vision Goggles for alcohol education
 . . . . . one day, drug abuse prevention education for 180 students
 . . . . . one mechanical smoker for tobacco education
 . . . . . drug prevention education supplies for one classroom