Spaghetti dinner to raise funds for anti-drug program

As a way to both honor veterans and raise funds for the Don't Meth with Us program, the Yuma Sunrise Rotary Club is holding a spaghetti dinner Sunday open to the community.

The Veterans Day celebration and fundraising event will be held at the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, 225 S. 1st Ave., from noon to 4 p.m. Dinner will be $6 a plate, and veterans are invited to eat for free. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

The Yuma Sunrise Rotary Club piloted the Don't Meth with Us initiative in Yuma last year with the help of the program creator Paul McQueary of Farmington, N.M. The program is in its sixth year in schools around the country. Many schools are showing marked results from sharing information about the negative effects of methamphetamine with fifth-grade students, said Yuma Sunrise Rotary Club member Herlinda Hassell Wilson.

“We started the program in Yuma in 2011,” Wilson said. “We have been presented with some challenges; however, we are determined to spread the words ‘Don't Meth with Us' to every fifth-grader in Yuma County. We truly feel that our children are our future and we need to take care of them and provide them with the tools and information to make good decisions,” she said.

The program started out at Roosevelt Elementary School and has since been presented at Alice Byrne Elementary School. Wilson said other schools have also expressed interest in the program.

“We are also holding an essay contest with those fifth-graders,” she said. “In that contest, they are to write what they heard or learned from our presentation that will help them stay away from drugs and why should they not use drugs.

“We will select a first- and second-place winner at each school. When we open the presentation, we let them know there is going to be a contest. This helps them focus on the information and they truly become engaged.”

Funds raised so far have helped them to produce a 30-second commercial that is still in the works, as well as purchase T-shirts, coloring books, pencils and “Don't Meth with Us” wristbands for students.

For more information about the local program, contact Wilson at herlinda.hassellwilson@ptaaz.com or 246-2393. Visit www.dontmethwithus.com for more information about the program.

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.