This article was originally posted October, 2015
The last week of October not only brings us a time to trick or treat as we prepare to swing into the winter holiday period but, it also signals a period of eight days where all across our great Nation, students attend assemblies, hear from local law enforcement officials, and participate in poster-making campaigns that support the idea that drugs are not a good thing. Students and staff alike are encouraged to wear red ribbons proclaiming they are drug free.
Red Ribbon week didn’t just appear on the National spotlight as a cool and fun way to get the message to our youth that drugs are bad. In fact, the red ribbon symbolizes the life and death of a United States Marine and Drug Enforcement Agency Agent, Enrique Camarena.
Camarena was quoted telling his mother, “I’m only one person, but I want to make a difference.”
To learn more about Agent Camarena’s life and how he worked to make a difference, CLICK HERE to read his story and find out what wearing the red ribbon really means.
Thanks to the efforts of our Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Arden Arcade (CSHAA), the essence of Camarena’s quote lives on well beyond red ribbon week.