Drug Education Top Priority for Elks

ounded in 1983, the Elks Drug Awareness Education Program is a logical extension of the Elks long-standing commitment to youth activities. The program is designed to impart knowledge of the dangers of drug use to youths and their parents.

"We knew we were not the experts," says the founding director of the program, Dick Herndobler of Ashland, Oregon, "but we had the resources to obtain accurate and credible information, and we had the facility to distribute the material." The Elks Lodges occupy a place in their communities that makes them an ideal catalyst, able to bring together diverse groups with a common objective, Herndobler notes.

Working closely with such groups as the National Family Partnership and the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE), the Elks have been able to not only continue their program, but to expand it. To date, the Elks Drug Awareness Education Program has printed and distributed more than 110 million pieces of literature, free of charge, in the ongoing campaign. Information has been derived from the groups with which the Order works. The Elks are also part of a greater coalition that includes the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, the U.S. Department of Education, DEA, FBI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. State Department, United Nations Drug Control Programs and many other federal and state agencies.

Andy Milwid of Jackson's Gap, Alabama, is the national director of the Elks Drug Awareness Program. He says, "We have yet to win the war on drugs, but it's a battle that must continue to be fought. The Elks are committed to be in it for the duration."

Milwid notes that the fraternity sponsored more than 7,000 programs last year, reaching six million children and two million parents. Especially in today's environment of alcohol and other drug use by youths, positive and productive alternatives are needed. The Elks "Hoop Shoot" Free Throw Contest attracts more than three million boys and girls every year. Throughout the country, Elks sponsor athletic teams, Scout and Campfire groups, Boys and Girls Clubs, and promote youth activities in myriad ways.

"Investing in the future of our country by providing opportunities for children has always been a hallmark of the Order of Elks," says Milwid.