Red Ribbon Week aims to keep children off drugs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Amber Carter
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Travis Air Force Base, California's Unified School District, along with more than 80 million young people around the country, celebrated National Red Ribbon Week Oct 26 to 30.

National Red Ribbon Week is a drug-prevention program in which children wear red ribbons as a pledge to stay away from drugs.

Parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing red ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction caused by drugs in America in response to the murder of Drug Enforcement Agency Agent Enrique "KiKi" Camarena in Mexico in 1985, according to redribbon.org. The first National Red Ribbon Celebration took place in 1988.

"Thirty years ago, DEA Special Agent Kiki Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Mexico," said Timothy Finney, Drug Demand Reduction program manager. "Kiki's death was the catalyst that led to the creation of the Red Ribbon Campaign, now the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the U.S."

In support of drug use prevention, students at Travis Elementary School creatively brought awareness to the drug-free campaign by dressing in a different theme each day. Galaxy, a Band of the Golden West rock band, performed at multiple schools in the surrounding area and the Travis Youth Center held a door decoration contest and discussions about being drug free.

"For Red Ribbon Week, the Youth Center decorated our gates with red ribbons and held a door decorating contest," said Marie Huff, Travis Youth Center child youth program assistant lead.

The 2015 Red Ribbon Week theme is "respect yourself, be drug free" and was created by a 13-year-old from Ohio who competed in the contest held last fall.

The winning slogan and design are used throughout the following year at thousands of schools and communities across America. Red Ribbon Week is in its 30th year as the nation's largest and oldest drug-prevention campaign according to redribbon.org.

"We know Kiki would be proud of the millions of people participating in drug-free celebrations in his honor in schools and communities across the country and beyond," Finney said.