WCPO-TV's Jenell Walton interviews CDFGC's Executive Director Mary Haag about the Tristate's Campus Challenge contest. Full story and video clip here:

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_central_cincinnati/downtown/students...

Attention Kroger shoppers! You can support the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati just by shopping at Kroger grocery stores. 

Now available through the Coalition - Kroger gift cards that give four percent of your grocery total to the Coalition. Just purchase the card from us, preload the desired dollar amount and scan when you check-out. The Coalition automatically receives four percent of your bill. It could not be any easier.  

For more information or to make arrangements to purchase a Kroger gift card, please call CDFGC Administrative Assistant Kellie Kammer at (513) 751-8000.

This year Super Bowl Sunday will get underway on February 5, 2012. Besides the big game, The Super Bowl is known for its commercials. Many of those coveted spots are centered on alcohol advertising. The Super Bowl television audience alone is about 18 percent under the age of 21 (Source: Drug-Free Action Alliance). The more youth are exposed to alcohol ads, the more likely they are to consume alcohol underage.

You can have the youth in your lives "Get In The Game!" The day after the Super Bowl, youth can complete a simple, two-question, student survey:
DFAA Big Bowl Vote.

DFAA will collect and summarize the data, and you'll receive the results just days after the Super Bowl. Last year, more than 35,000 middle and high school students participated in DFAA's Big Bowl Vote. Click on the link above
to participate.

Through the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati's annual outreach with its summer tour of coalition leaders, technical assistance, and general coalition meetings, CDFGC has asked local member coalitions about what type of trainings they would like to be involved in throughout the year. Based on their feedback, CDFGC is developing a schedule of trainings for 2012. These trainings will be offered for free or at a reduced cost to member coalitions and community partners and will cover a broad range of topics pertinent to coalition development.   

Effective coalition leadership is essential to achieving and sustaining population-level change in a community. The Coalition will host a training on the principles of transformational leadership with tool and techniques to enhance coalition leadership.   

The 2012 Pride Student Drug Use Survey data will be available and related to member coalitions in the early summer of 2012. Member coalitions will receive their results and will learn how to interpret and utilize the findings, including the four core measures, trends and other important data results.  

CDFGC will also be offering two additional trainings on Building Partnerships and Fund Development.

Watch for the training schedule to be released in early 2012. For more information, please visit our website at www.drugfreecincinnati.org

The Coalition for a Drug Free Cincinnati (CDFGC) is currently in the process of gathering data as part of our community assessment of prescription drug/over the counter (Rx/OTC) use in the Greater Cincinnati region.

We have created a system to conduct online focus groups to gain community member perception of Rx/OTC misuse. We need the help of our local coalitions to identify individuals to take our online focus group survey.  CDFGC will be able to break down the data we receive and share it with local coalitions.   A variety of individuals from all professions are welcome to be a part of the focus groups including coaches, teachers, juvenile court judges, school resource officers, guidance counselors, principals, nurses, emergency room physicians, youth ministers, pharmacists, PTA members, and county coroners.

Please contact Nicole Schiesler at (513) 751-8000 or nschiesler@drugfreecincinnati.org if you are a local coalition member or represent one of the noted professions above. CDFGC will need contact information to invite individuals to participate in the focus groups. Representation is needed from Clermont, Butler, Warren, Hamilton, and Brown counties in Ohio; Campbell, Boone, and Kenton counties in Kentucky; and Franklin and Dearborn counties in Indiana.

The Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati has been issued a grant match challenge by The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati to raise $10,000 before December 30 in order to receive a doubled, matching $20,000 grant.

We are incredibly grateful for the support that has poured in already for this opportunity. As of December 21, we are only $1,785 shy of our goal.

The funds from this grant will go towards substance abuse prevention programs that focus on preventing and reducing substance use among youth as well as strengthening and supporting local, neighborhood substance abuse prevention efforts, and tracking, monitoring and reporting on the work we are doing that can truly create community-level change for strong and healthy communities throughout the Cincinnati region.

There are a few things to keep in mind to ensure we will receive the matching grant: 1) we must raise the full $10,000 2) we must receive your check by December 30 dated no later than the noted date 3) no single gift can exceed $5,000. With that stated, please know that gifts of any amount are valuable and very much appreciated.

There is one other way you can help us. Please forward information about our organization to your friends, family and colleagues. Not only will you help us meet our specific fundraising goal, you will also introduce us to more individuals in the community who we would like to get to know and tell about our prevention work.

The tax deductible donations can be made through the Google donation account noted in our newsletter, or checks can be sent to: CDFGC, 2330 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45206 or call us at 513-751-8000 to make a payment by phone or if you have any questions.

As always, thank you in advance for your support and confidence.

Attention Kroger shoppers! You can support the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati just by shopping at Kroger grocery stores. 

Now available through the Coalition - Kroger gift cards that give four percent of your grocery total to the Coalition.  Just purchase the card from us, preload the desired dollar amount and scan when you check-out. 

The Coalition automatically receives four percent of your bill. It could not be any easier.  For more information or to make arrangements to purchase a Kroger gift card, please call CDFGC Administrative Assistant Kellie Kammer at (513) 751-8000.

The Coalition for a Drug Free Greater Cincinnati is proud to highlight the Coalition for a Safe and Drug Free Fairfield in December. The Coalition for a Safe and Drug Free Fairfield was awarded the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) 2011 Got Outcomes! Coalition of Excellence Award in the Coalition in Focus category. The award is sponsored by the National Coalition Institute and recognizes organizations that have successfully worked to improve substance abuse in their community “by implementing a comprehensive and feasible plan guided by local data that includes program practice and policy changes”.

            Fairfield was selected for their implementation of a comprehensive set of strategies to address high rates of underage drinking. A community assessment identified community conditions such as permissive attitudes towards underage drinking and low peer disapproval as contributors to youth drinking and the coalition selected a comprehensive set of interventions. Those efforts were to address issues such as working with local police to increase enforcement of social hosting, keg registration and curfew laws, limiting alcohol availability at school and community events, providing leadership training to freshmen high school students and implementing a media campaign on youth access to alcohol in the home. Their efforts contributed to a decrease in 30-day alcohol use among 7-12 graders (25.8 percent in 2004; 14 percent in 2010) and an increase in the age of onset of alcohol use among youth (12.0 percent in 2004; 13.9 percent in 2010.

Recipients of the award are recognized at the 2012 CADCA National Leadership Forum in February in Washington D.C. More information on the Got Outcomes! Awards are available at www.cadca.org/gotoutcomes.

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Although much progress has been made in the region on smoking rates for both adults and youth, the area still carries a heavy burden from tobacco use.  In Kentucky, 25% of adults smoke and 26% of high school students smoke; 22% of Ohio adults smoke and 19% of high school students smoke; 21% of Indiana adults smoke and 19% of high school students smoke (Source: 2011 Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids-Toll of Tobacco in the United States).

Every year on the third Thursday in November, the American Cancer Society hosts the “Great American Smokeout."  It encourages smokers to “walk away for a day,” make a plan to quit, and to spread community awareness around the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke. The Smokeout can be celebrated in a number of ways, from press releases to community events. 

Fun ways for coalitions and community groups to celebrate The Great American Smokeout:

·         Partner with a local sandwich shop and give coupons for turkey sandwiched for individuals who pledge to quit smoking.  (Although “cold turkey” is the least effective method for quitting smoking, the turkey imagery resonates with many people.)

·         Raffle off turkeys for individuals who pledge to quit smoking.

·         If your community is not smoke-free, partner with restaurants in the community to sponsor a smoke-free day of dining.

Any effort to help adults quit will also impact youth; children who live with adults that smoke are more likely to become smokers than children who live with nonsmoking adults.  Helping adults break the habit is an important prevention strategy to consider in the effort to reduce youth