Parents and community members interested in finding out what
they can do to curb teen binge drinking can attend a town hall
meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Hollister City Hall.
Parents and community members interested in finding out what they can do to curb teen binge drinking can attend a town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Hollister City Hall.
The event will have a panel discussion, including Hon. Steve R. Sanders; Mayor Victor Gomez; Rebecca Jones, an emergency room nurse from Hazel Hawkins Hospital; Colleen Grimes, the assistant principal at Santa Ana and San Andreas Continuation Schools and Chief of Police Jeff Miller.
“We are hoping the community will attend,”
Renee Hankla, manager of the San Benito County substance abuse program, said one of the biggest challenges to curbing binge drinking is the lack of community education on the consequences of underage alcohol use, parental influence and cultural norms that accept the use of alcohol by underage drinkers.
“We will hear a powerful testimony from Debbie and Steve Allen who recently lost their daughter to acute alcohol poisoning,” Hankla said.
The couple founded of the Shelby Lyn Allen Alcohol Poisoning Education Fund after their 17-year-old daughter died of acute alcohol poisoning in 2008. They will talk about common signs and symptoms, and what to do in case of an emergency.
See more in the Pinnacle on Friday.
