FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer de Vallance (202) 395–6618
Jenie Carlen (734) 477–1655
October 16, 2002
National Booksellers Team Up with Anti-Drug Campaign
To Give Parents a "Read" On Drug-Free Kids
– Borders Books and MusicŪ and WaldenbooksŪ Feature Parenting Resources –
(Washington, D.C.)—Families across the country will be able to pick up free copies of parenting guides on youth drug prevention throughout the month of October, thanks to a partnership between The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and Borders Group, Inc., a leading global retailer of books.
The partnership is the latest example of the private/public effort launched by ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign last September. Borders will provide free parenting brochures in more than 1,200 Borders Books and MusicŪ and WaldenbooksŪ stores nationwide. The brochures feature the support of Borders and W.P. Carey, a real estate investment firm that underwrote the printing of more than 200,000 parent brochures for the Campaign.
Throughout the month of October, National Drug Awareness Month, Borders and Waldenbooks will also mount special displays devoted to youth drug prevention and parenting. The stores will make the 53-page parenting guide, "Keeping Your Kids Drug-Free: a How-To Guide For Parents and Caregivers," which is endorsed by the National PTA and the American Academy of Pediatrics, available to customers.
"Borders and Waldenbooks are not only reminding parents that their words and actions matter when it comes to preventing drug use, but they are also providing resources to help families," said ONDCP Director John P. Walters. "Partnerships like this add an important dimension to our Media Campaign by reinforcing and extending the messages of our advertising."
"Lending our nationwide retail presence to provide parents with ways to talk to their kids about drugs is an important way for the Borders Group to contribute to the communities in which we operate," says Michael Spinozzi, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Borders Group. "Borders' relationship with the Anti-Drug Media Campaign seemed natural. After all, our stores are built and run to be community meeting places where customers discover ideas and information."
Research shows parents are the most powerful influence on their children's decisions to use drugs. Two-thirds of youth ages 13–17 say losing their parents' respect is one of the main reasons they don't smoke marijuana or use other drugs. Through collaborations with well-known companies who are influential with their audiences, the Media Campaign is reaching more youth and parents, more persuasively.
Borders Group, Inc. is a leading global retailer of books, music, video and other information and entertainment items with stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A FORTUNE 500 company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Group employs 32,000 worldwide and operates over 385 Borders domestic superstores, 25 international Borders stores, 36 Books etc. locations and approximately 800 Waldenbooks stores. Teamed with Amazon.com, the company also offers online shopping through Borders.com (www.borders.com).
In 1998, with the bipartisan support of Congress and the President, ONDCP created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, an effort designed to educate and empower youth to reject illicit drugs. Counting on an unprecedented blend of public and private partnerships, non-profit community service organizations, volunteerism, and youth-to-youth communications, the Campaign is designed to reach Americans of diverse backgrounds wherever they live, learn, work, play and practice their faith.
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