Local students help deter drunk drivers

Don’t drink and drive because the police will catch you,” reads one brown paper bag. Another reads “Do not drink and drive. I don’t want to see you in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.”

Both of these paper bags, and hundreds more, have messages written from Lac La Biche area students who want to stop motorists from drunk driving this holiday season. The bags are being given out with purchases at Lac La Biche liquor stores.

“It really sends out a strong message to our customers,” said Liquor Stop and Lac La Biche Wine and Liquor Spirits owner Fozey Fyith. “It’s a great thing to see from young school children who are really getting the point across to the adults around them.”

With a lot of new customers coming into his new store during its pre-Christmas grand opening, Fyith has heard many compliments about the awareness program.

“We’re giving away a TV, Oilers tickets, a patio set — but I think the best gift our customers are leaving with is the message from the children.”

The idea to decorate the paper bags has been done on a smaller scale previously, but this years larger project originated from the school division’s Successful Families -Successful Kids program with help from the Lac La Biche Drug Coalition.

“It’s a great opportunity to give kids the power to affect change. It’s their words, their thoughts and we hope it makes an impact,” said local Successful Families project co-ordinator Jana McKinley.

Students from Central, Caslan, Kikino, Dr. Swift and Vera M. Welch participated in the project.

At the Great Canadian Liquor Store, manager Leo Chapdelaine says the bags are a popular item. and almost all were gone before Christmas.

“I thought it was such a great idea that I suggested for next year that if they decide to do it again, we will make a donation to the charity of their choice,” he said, adding that the message from the kids probably carries more weight than government-produced signs and warnings. “They don’t care about this government sign that says don’t drink and drive, but they do care when they read the kids’ messages be­cause it could have been their kid who did it. It