Foundation Gives Students Courage to Speak
West Rocks to host 9th annual drug prevention event
By: Mike Peal
Published: March 08, 2013
Ginger Katz knows a little bit about a drug free community. She’s been advocating for one for 16 years — ever since her own son, Ian, died of a drug overdose.
“I wasn’t ashamed of my son,” Katz says. “He was a good kid but he made an unhealthy decision to use drugs. And I was not going to lie about him.”
So instead Katz founded the Courage to Speak Foundation in Norwalk, with a mission to save lives by educating and empowering children and parents to be drug free.
“If [students] get this, like they tell us they’re getting it, then I have fulfilled my mission,” she says.
Katz’s message can be found in her book, “Sunny’s Story” and in school curriculums around the state. On Tuesday March 19, the foundation will follow up on that curriculum at its ninth annual Empowering Youth to be Drug Free family night at West Rocks Middle School.
“It’s a celebration of families coming together for the sake of our children,” Katz says.
The event features a presentation from Katz, plus artwork, letters and speeches from students — students pledging to be drug free.
Katz says it is important to support children to make “healthy choices for their life.”
Katz says the event is made specifically for families. She says parents are key in drug prevention.
“Children get a lot of support and are reassured that they’re not alone and they have trusted adults in their lives,” she says.
“Come to this event. It’s a message that is clearer.”
For more on the March 19th event, visit couragetospeak.org.
