Altus Air Force Base News

 

Altus AFB wins 22nd Annual Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Klynne Pearl Serrano
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 97th Air Mobility Wing Drug Demand Reduction program received the 22nd Annual Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award as the Department of the Air Force winner at the Pentagon, Oct. 18, 2012.

"It was so exciting," said Donna L. Butte, 97th Medical Operations Squadron DDR program manager. "I felt so blessed and so honored to just be up there. It is truly amazing to highlight the programs that we do and then to win for Altus, I was just like 'Yes!'"

The DDR program organized a total of 162 outreach activities last year.

"We put a package together of what we did for that fiscal year," Butte said. "We took pictures of everything we did and put them in a binder where we kept track of all the outreach activities we did monthly."

"We try to get out as best as we can," Butte said. "We're in on all the schools, the youth center and we do the after hour program at Rivers Elementary."

A Halloween dance called "Say Boo to Drugs" was held at the Youth Center as the finale for last year's Red Ribbon Week, which is the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign held every year.

"It was a costume party and a dance," Butte said. "It was a big hit."

The DDR program's mission is to enhance mission readiness and foster a drug-free environment through a comprehensive program of education, preventions, deterrence and community outreach.

"Our goal is to go out and educate young people about the dangers of drugs," Butte said. "So that's what we try to do."

In celebration of Red Ribbon Week, the DDR program is scheduled to host an event at the Balfour Beatty Community Center Oct. 26 from 4-6 p.m. and the 2nd Annual "Say Boo to Drugs" Dance at the Youth Center from 7-9 p.m.

"The whole community is invited," Butte said. "We'll have free hotdogs, pies and bouncy houses at the BBC center. The base fire department and the 97th Security Forces Squadron will be there as well."

Butte expressed her thanks to her leadership and the other squadrons on base for their continued support for the program.

"It was a team effort," Butte said. "I could not have done it without the help of everyone on this base and the Altus community."

For more information about drug prevention and outreach, contact the DDR office at 481-5998.