Due to a lack of funds, Emma E. Booker Elementary School found itself unable to purchase shirts for students to wear during the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. After reaching out to Pine View’s School Resource Officer (SRO) Chris Hudson, Booker’s SRO Donnell Livingston was able to get help from the Pine View community.
Around the country, many elementary and middle schools implement the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program to educate students on the dangers of drug abuse. As part of the program, students are given shirts to wear reminding them to resist the use of drugs. However, Booker lacked the funds to purchase the 100 shirts that Booker students needed. Livingston, who is teaching D.A.R.E. for the first time this year, approached Hudson about teaching the classes and asked him for help finding funding for the shirts.
Hudson spoke with Teri Fisher, Pine View’s bookkeeper, to see if the school could help out financially. Fisher sent out an email to multiple clubs on campus to see if they could donate money to help Booker’s D.A.R.E. program. Clubs including Builders Club, Key Club, Drama Club, Middle School Student Council and the National Junior Honor Society responded.
President of Key Club, eleventh-grader Ally Moyer, said, “We were told how Booker was not able to afford the shirts and we all agreed at Key Club that they deserved them. D.A.R.E. was such a fantastic experience, I loved it when I was in 5th grade, and the t-shirts were a big part in that experience.”
Fisher requested only $800 for the shirts, but the clubs were able to raise over $1,000 for Booker Elementary. This provided not just shirts for the students, but also for a large celebration at the end of the D.A.R.E. program. Shirts were delivered to Booker students Oct. 6.
Deputy Hudson said, “I really hope we can do this for Deputy Livingston and Booker in the future for many other things that are needed other than D.A.R.E. supplies. I want to set up an account that we can put money into that Booker can use for all supplies.”