FAMILY DAY: A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children on Monday, September 23

InnerAct Alliance and coalition partners StandUP Polk and UthMpact encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to make plans now to participate in Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children next Monday, September 23, 2019. Take a family selfie and use the hashtag #myfamilyselfie to share on the Own The Upside Polk Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/owntheupsidepolk/ showing how you are celebrating together!

Family Day began in 2001 as a national effort to promote family dinners as an effective way to help kids grow up safe, healthy, and drug free. Research from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University consistently finds that the more frequently children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they will be to smoke, drink, or use illegal substances. To learn more about this initiative, sign the family day pledge, and receive helpful tips to talk with your children, visit www.flfamilyday.com

Your family can also show support for prevention of substance abuse by participating in the Annual Red Ribbon Campaign events presented by InnerAct Alliance. The Red Ribbon Run, which takes place on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at Lake Mirror in Lakeland, is a family-friendly event that offers three races to accommodate all ages: a new 15K added this year (9.3 miles), a 5K (3.1 miles), plus a Kids’ Fun Run (1K – just over a half mile). Kids’ Run registration is FREE to students in grades K-8 who are pre-registered before November 1 ($5 fee after 11/1/19) and includes a commemorative Run t-shirt and free refreshments. Online registration for the races is available on the event website at: www.RedRibbonRun.com

“The Annual Red Ribbon Run encourages healthy family activities which reduce the likelihood of substance abuse, bullying, violence, and other risky behaviors,” said InnerAct Alliance’s Executive Director, Angie Ellison. “Please join us on November 9 by sponsoring, running, or volunteering at www.RedRibbonRun.com or on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RedRibbonRunSeries.”