Marshall County FRN Takes Anti-Drug Message

To You Tube with the Help of Local Students

MOUNDSVILLE, WV – Two recent projects from the Marshall County Resource Network are getting wider distribution on YouTube, the Web-based video service.

The FRN recently uploaded two videos: A 30-second public service announcement talking about the dangers of smoking and a John Marshall High School video report of the FRN’s April 2009 Project Sticker Shock initiative. They can be seen at www.youtube.com/frnoutreach. as well as www.marshallcountyfrn.com, www.marshallcountyantidrugcoalition.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/marshallcountyantidrug.

The PSA, “Don’t Let Your Life Go Up in Smoke,” depicts the dangers of smoking seen through the eyes of a young girl whose family and close adult friends are affected. The PSA is designed to reach 11- to 18-year-olds. It was created and produced by Tony Wood’s video editing class at John Marshall High School. Thanks to funds provided by the American Lung Association, the 30-second commercial has run a number of times on Fox Ohio Valley as well as at John Marshall High School and at West Liberty State College’s news programs.

The John Marshall High School video class also chronicled the FRN’s Project Sticker Shock for a report on its daily news program reaching the entire student body. Project Sticker Shock is an annual initiative of the FRN and the Marshall County Anti-Drug Coalition where Marshall County high school and middle school students, along with their adult chaperones, put stickers on alcoholic beverages at participating retailers. The stickers remind customers that the legal drinking age is 21 and that it’s illegal to provide alcohol to anyone under 21.

Project Sticker Shock was very successful in its first two countywide events in November 2007 and November 2008. Retailers’ enthusiasm for the program and its message brought it back earlier than scheduled, in April 2009. Fifteen retail stores in Marshall County participated.

The Marshall County Anti-Drug Coalition is funded in part by a federal SPF-SIG Grant from the West Virginia Governor’s Office and the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being. The grant is made possible by the State of West Virginia’s receipt of a federal Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF-SIG) from the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. The grant is administered through the Marshall County Family Resource Network.

The Marshall County Family Resource Network is a not-for-profit organization that builds community partnerships to make Marshall County a better place to live and work. The FRN’s key efforts focus on substance abuse prevention, health and wellness, and community development. It has leveraged more than $2.2 million in state and federal grants to help Marshall County over the past three years.