Marengo County Community in Action working to curb teen drinking

For six years Marengo County Community in Action has worked to reduce underage drinking. The results are showing it is worth the effort.

“Let’s say ‘no’ together” is the tagline for Community in Action, said LaToya Witherspoon who has been at the helm of the group for almost two years. She reported that surveys of underage drinking among Demopolis High School students has dropped from 8 to 3 percent in the past four years.

Community in Action began under the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant with the state Department of Mental Health. Witherspoon stepped into the shoes of the first coordinator, Connie Brown.

Community in Action focuses on reducing underage drinking, drinking and driving and riding with someone who is drinking, said Witherspoon. She collaborates with other agencies that have received grants focusing on drug prevention. Together their aim is to “create effective sustainable activities for Marengo County as a whole.”

Her activities are aimed at students ages 12-20, but the coalition of agencies as a whole covers “from birth to death.”

Working within the schools, Witherspoon organizes assemblies informing students of the dangers of drinking and driving. She is planning summer events that promote community involvement.

“That’s the fun part,” she said. With other coalition members, Community in Action is preparing to hold a special summer event for teens to show how they can have a good time without alcohol. She expects plans for the event to be announced later this month.

Demopolis leaders recognize that teens want things to do, she said.

At monthly coalition meetings the groups work on ideas and evaluate programs to encourage young people to shun underage drinking and drug use. The meetings are open to the public. The next one will be May 10 at 10 a.m. in the Demopolis Public Library.

Since Witherspoon is the only Community in Action employee, she works with volunteers or with other agencies to conduct programs. District Judge Vince Deas is chairman of the Children’s Policy Council for Marengo County. Other agencies represented include the police departments of the six communities in the county, all public school campuses, the ABI, ALEA, ABC Board, Juvenile Parole Board and churches throughout the county.

Feedback shows “that perception of risk increases” after the school programs, she said.

During the annual Red Ribbon Week, 2,800 students who pledged not to drink or use drugs signed a traveling banner.

A peer helper program all year long “evaluates how well our students are doing,” she continued.

Billboards around Demopolis sponsored by Community in Action encourage parents to be involved with their children, the best way to curtail risky behavior.

Witherspoon, who hails from St. Louis, Mo., earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in counseling and psychology from the University of West Alabama. She was approached by one of the coalition members who asked her, “Would you like to make a change?”

“Since then it has been amazing,” she said.  “We have the opportunity to enact change in our community, to make it the best it can be.”

The mother of two, Witherspoon tells all the students she comes in contact with, “You are awesome.”

“Everything I do is out of love,” she said, “love for self, love for others, love for the world.”