South Windsor Alliance for Families (SWAFF)
Meeting Minutes – November 15, 2011
Call Meeting to Order: Joann Moriarty called the Regular Meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
Members Present: Jennifer Anderson; Keri Apt; Elsie Diaz; Tom Field; Sue Gerich; Penny Hill; Ali Jennings; Joann Moriarty; Ashley Murphy; Kathy Reed; Rebecca Schroder; and Dennis Sheridan
October Meeting Minutes were reviewed and approved.
Review Prevention Materials:
The need for prevention material geared towards the younger group of students was discussed. There are many online resources that cover important issues such as poison safety, fire safety, burn prevention, obesity, bullying, dog bite prevention, child abuse prevention etc. The idea is to provide a safe community concept. Joann will research some of these resources and then a discussion will can follow on a possible presentation to the schools.
Drug Free Communities Grant Usage
- Purchase printed materials on prescription medicine abuse.
- Police enforcement activities will continue over the holidays in November, December, and January.
- Collaborate with other LPC’s to produce more media events.
- Research and Data Collection for possible Student Survey. Joann will contact Kate regarding the survey. Dennis commented on how the schools and other town services working together during the outage definitely strengthened these relationships.
SADD Activities:
The group has been brainstorming on possible community activities. They are also planning to promote cyber bullying awareness and to continue to work on alcohol and drug abuse prevention.
Responsible Alcohol Sales Kits:
The kits include lanyards, tags, etc. Sue and Kathy composed a letter to present to local liquor stores, 7-11, and the Country Store. Grocery stores were not on the list because they already have programs in place. After the letter was reviewed by attending members a decision was made to revamp the letter and then distribute to the list of stores.
Medication Disposal Day Report
Tom Field reported that 235 pounds of medication was taken in with 117 contacts who received prevention material. Some were out-of-towners who did not know where to go for disposal in their own towns. Hartford used eight detectives manning the disposal and only received 15 pounds, and Manchester took in 80 pounds. There has been some discussion among South Windsor police whether the usage of a 24 hour medication disposal drop box. Ashley Murphy commented that ERASE has purchased four drop boxes and that she will provide Tom with more information.
Fourth Annual Cops vs. Kids Dodge Ball Tournament
The tournament for middle and high school students will be held on Sunday, December 11, 9-11 a.m. in the high school gym. Police will be volunteering their time to play. SWAFF will have a table selling snacks and water with the proceeds going to the CARES programs. Students will bring food bank items. Joann will purchase t-shirts for the event.
ERASE Report
Ashley announced a training course for sports coaches regarding prescription drug misuse and abuse prevention. ERASE will provide the training and will provide handouts to give to the handouts. Anyone interested in this training can contact her. Keri will discuss this with the town recreation staff.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m. The next meeting is January 17 at 5:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy A. Aborn,
Recording Secretary
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