CAIRO — After 30 years, the curtain came down Saturday for DARE Day in Cairo.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program was established in a collaboration of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1983 to create a new drug prevention education program for elementary school students.
Police created the partnership with schools after recognizing that enforcement alone did not curtail the use and abuse of illicit drugs. The program spread nationwide in 1989.
The first DARE Day was held in Greene County in 1992, said organizer Tom Plank, a Greene County sheriff’s deputy at the time. Years later, the event would continue to be organized by Plank and Town of Cairo Police. It has been held at Angelo Canna Town Park from the beginning, Plank said.
Hundreds attended Saturday’s event, which included music and entertainment, food, exhibits, demonstrations, bounce houses and lots of giveaways from local community groups and businesses.
DARE Day was designed to show children the alternatives available to stay away from drugs, Plank said.
Plank announced recently that Saturday would be the final DARE Day in Cairo.
“I was kind of hoping that someone else would be able to take over the reins, but that hasn’t happened yet,” Plank said.
The cost and staffing of the DARE program has been an issue since New York state cut its funding, Plank said. In May 2008, New York announced it would no longer fund officer training for the DARE program.
“Since that time, many of the officers have moved on to other things,” Plank said.
DARE Day in Cairo has lasted far longer than many other similar events across the region.
“I think it’s because we had a great group of volunteers here that wanted to keep it going,” Plank said.
Plank hopes that 30 years of the DARE program has taught the majority of children to stay away from drugs and be better citizens, Plank said.