20th annual Drug Store Project coming this April

The 20th annual Drug Store Project returns to an in-person event in South Lake Tahoe on April 4, 2023. Sixth-grade students from area schools will be taking part in the day-long event at South Tahoe Middle School

Homeschool students are invited, and if not signed up, please contact tahoedsp@gmail.com.

Volunteers from the community are what make this day special, a day full of education and activities, all centered around the hope of helping youth make decisions to avoid getting involved in drugs. The California and Nevada National Guard Counterdrug Task Forces will be among those volunteers. If you are with an agency and haven't submitted the names/emails of personnel who will be at the event, please do so to tahoedsp@gmail.com. They must have a full list of individuals on all levels for the middle school.

Want to volunteer? Email them at tahoedsp@gmail.com

Interested in learning more? After being virtual during the pandemic, the Drug Store Project recorded all student presentations and they can be seen on the event website, www.drugstoreproject.org. The videos are a useful tool for parents and communities who want to put on their own events.

An important part of the Drug Store Project is the post-event surveys. This helps organizers learn more about our youth and the impact of the event. All youth will complete a post-event survey which will be used to evaluate the growth in their knowledge in addition to their opinions on the day. It is their goal that youth will return home that day and discuss the event with their parents. Parents then have the opportunity to complete an online parent survey at www.drugstoreproject.org. All surveys must be completed by April 7 to be included in the review. As an incentive to complete the four-minute survey, parents will receive a Grocery Outlet store certificate, another item provided through a grant that Barton Health submitted.

The Drug Store Project is supported by donations from Tahoe Women's Community Fund, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra, City of South Lake Tahoe, Edgewood Tahoe, the Optimist Club, John & Cheryl Cook, El Dorado Savings Bank, Kiwanis Club of Tahoe Sierra, 2022 American Century Championship, South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Association, Loyal Order of Moose #1632, Women of the Moose Chapter 408, Kiwanis Club of Lake Tahoe, Lake Valley Firefighter Foundation, Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe, and the Rotary Club of Tahoe-Douglas.