Politics & Government

Lowey: White Plains Receives $125K for Youth Anti-Drug Programs

White Plains was one of the Westchester County localities to receive federal funding from the by the Office of National Drug Control Policy Drug-Free Communities Program, More then $1.3 million was doled out locally.

Editor's Note: The following release was submitted by the office of U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison.

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WHITE PLAINS, NY – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, today announced that ten local organizations will receive a total of $1,325,000 in federal grants for youth anti-substance abuse initiatives.

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“If we are going to have healthy communities and thriving families, we must help our youth avoid the pitfalls of substance abuse,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “It is exciting news that our federal government is investing in local initiatives to engage the community to help keep our children safe from the dangers of drugs and alcohol.”

In New York’s 17th Congressional District, ten local initiatives were awarded grants, including:

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  •  City of White Plains ($125,000);
  •  South Orangetown Community Awareness of Substance Abuse ($125,000);
  • Mount Kisco Drug & Alcohol Prevention Council ($125,000);
  •  Cortlandt Community Coalition ($125,000);
  •  Ossining Communities That Care ($125,000);
  •  Westchester Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Free Youth  ($125,000);
  •  Westchester Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Free Youth ($75,000), for a mentoring program for the new North Castle Community Coalition;
  •  Croton Community Coalition ($125,000);
  •  Port Chester Cares Community Coalition ($125,000);
  •  Blind Brook Community Coalition ($125,000); and
  •  OCADA, Inc. ($125,000), which serves Central Nyack, Nyack, South Nyack, Upper Grandview, Upper Nyack, and Valley Cottage.

“Throughout Westchester, individual communities have joined together to combat underage drinking and other drug use,” said Vito Pinto, Director of the Westchester County Office of Drug Abuse Prevention and STOP-DWI. “The most powerful tool we have to address our underage drinking and drug abuse problems is preventing them before they begin. This begins at the local level through community coalitions.  The federal government has recognized the hard work of these coalitions by awarding these grants and thereby allowing us to strengthen their existing efforts.”

The $1,325,000 in federal grants were awarded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Program, which provides grants to community coalitions that facilitate citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts.  Since 1998, ONDCP has awarded more than 2,000 Drug-Free Communities grants to local communities nationwide.


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