HANLEY FOUNDATION AWARDS $1,000 TO SOUTH TECH ACADEMY SENIOR
IN ANNUAL ALCOHOL PREVENTION SCHOOL BUS POSTER CONTEST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pareto Raymond wins first place for his poster highlighting the theme
“Superhero Me. Alcohol Free”
(West Palm Beach, FL) – Hanley Foundation, a community leader in substance abuse prevention programming, awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Pareto Raymond, a senior at South Tech Academy in Boynton Beach, for winning a first-place award in the county’s 9th Annual Alcohol Prevention Poster Contest.
The theme for this year’s contest was “Superhero Me. Alcohol Free.” As part of his award, Raymond’s poster will be displayed inside up to 1,000 of the school district’s buses and will also be displayed in schools.
Raymond created a graphic, comic book-style poster that featured a Superman-like action hero opening his shirt to reveal a “Soberman” logo on a red suit. The poster noted an important statistic from the 2018 Florida Youth Substance Survey: 84 percent of Palm Beach County middle and high school students don’t drink alcohol.
“Pareto’s poster used key statistics to show his fellow students that despite what they might perceive, most of their friends aren’t using alcohol and they can feel good about not engaging in underage alcohol use, as well,” said Kathryn Grace, Regional Coordinator of Prevention Services for Hanley Foundation in Palm Beach and Broward counties. “We felt Pareto’s ‘Soberman’ poster would grab bus-riders’ attention with its comic book-look and bright colors, but then really drive home the truth about alcohol use.”
Grace noted that one of Hanley Foundation’s key prevention programs, Alcohol Literacy Challenge, reflects Raymond’s poster message and is offered free to schools, churches and youth groups.
“Prevention programming reaching school age children is a successful strategy to keep kids away from drugs and alcohol,” she said. “Children and teens who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol addicted than those who do not drink before age 21.”
But the days of ‘just say no’ have evolved. Hanley Foundation’s prevention teams are on the front lines to effectively teach students both the real, physical effects of consuming alcohol and other substances, as well as the social and emotional effects kids think happen when they drink or use.
The annual School Bus Poster Contest held by the Palm Beach County Substance Awareness Coalition, in partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County, Florida Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), Florida Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Boy Scouts Gulfstream Council and sponsored by Hanley Foundation, the Judith Carreras Scholarship, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Rotary Club of Wellington and the South Florida Fairgrounds.
In the early 1980s, Mary Jane and Jack Hanley retired to Palm Beach County to discover the absence of any facilities dedicated to quality substance abuse treatment. Through the couple’s visionary leadership and great support from the community, Hanley Center and the Hanley Center Foundation were established. Nearly 40 years later and now expanded throughout Florida, the community continues to recognize the stand-alone Hanley Foundation with great support for its thought leadership, grantmaking and evidence-based programming. The charitable 501(c)(3) organization provides statewide resources for substance use disorder advocacy, education and access to quality treatment. The organization’s prevention programming is available to schools, churches and community groups through grant funding provided by the Florida Department of Children and Families, office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. With your support, the Hanley Foundation is taking critical steps to change the conversation around substance use disorders.
For more information about Hanley Foundation, or to request free prevention programming for a school, church or youth group, please visit www.hanleyfoundation.org or call 561-268-2355.