Officer Steven Brown of the Ogden Police Department has been working for the D.A.R.E. program for eight years. Six years ago he was talking to Spencerport teacher Fred Cardella and saying that he would not be doing the D.A.R.E. program next year because the program lost a major contributor. (D.A.R.E. does not use tax dollars, but donations.) Cardella, who also plays in a band, and Mary Jo Syfrett, secretary at Taylor Elementary School, came up with the idea of having a "total community function" to raise money to continue the D.A.R.E. program.

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a program that gives children the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence. It was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and because it has been so successful it is now being implemented in nearly 80 percent of school districts in the United States and in over 54 countries around the world. The program features a police officer led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

On Friday, May 16, the 6th Annual D.A.R.E. Dance was held at Taylor Elementary School. This year's dance, for which over 500 tickets were sold, raised $4,375 making the overall six-year total $19,055. It is the social event of the year for the 5th and 6th graders, according to OPD Officer Brown.

The event involved many local volunteers. Parent associations from the schools pay for the pizza and the pop. Seabreeze, Eastman Kodak Company and many other organizations donate prizes. The D.A.R.E. organization also donates prizes. Over 80 parents and many teachers volunteered to chaperone the event. F&D Music (Fred Cardella and Dave DeBellis) donated the music.

Brown says that D.A.R.E. fundraisers do provide funds for the D.A.R.E. program, "but I tell them that the money that the kids spend on tickets they are investing in themselves, because I use that money for them."

Note: Includes basic D.A.R.E. information from the official D.A.R.E. website.