Alliance For Consumer Education Will Take The Mound Against Inhalant Abuse

Published on May 21, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


The Alliance for Consumer Education (ACE) announced today that they have entered into a partnership with three Eastern League baseball teams (Double-A Minor League) in a unique program designed to educate parents, school officials and individuals in the community about this often overlooked form of abuse. Children nationwide abuse more than 1,400 inexpensive and readily available everyday household, office and school products. The New Britain Rock Cats (CT), Bowie Baysox (MD), and the Trenton Thunder (NJ) have agreed to take the field with ACE this season and raise awareness about this issue.

This program - deemed "Striking Out Inhalant Abuse" - seeks to utilize the broad appeal of America's pastime and the tremendous popularity of Minor League Baseball Teams in their local communities to educate families. With the co-operation of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), mascots and team representatives will visit dozens of local grade schools to discuss the issue. The thousands of students participating will also receive team-branded materials and a ticket to a game.

Each team will host an Inhalant Abuse Awareness Game this season to include free promotional giveaway items, and educational components. The New Britain Rock Cats will host their event on Wednesday, July 8th at the 7:05pm home game.

The Alliance for Consumer Education (ACE) is a Washington, DC based charitable foundation dedicated to community health and well-being. Its flagship program is inhalant abuse prevention-the deliberate inhalation or "sniffing" or "huffing" of household products for the purpose of "getting high" - as it is a highly dangerous behavior that constitutes a 'silent epidemic'. "This program was launched to address parental unawareness and start a dialogue amongst families in their households about inhalant abuse," said Colleen Creighton, Executive Director at ACE. "There is a real problem when more than 1 in 5 children in the U.S. will abuse inhalants by the eighth grade".

This program stemmed from a 2008 partnership with the New Britain Rock Cats that included the first ever Inhalant Abuse Awareness Game at a Minor League Ballpark. Inhalant abuse among 7th and 8th graders in Connecticut increased from 2004 to 2008 (Groton Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (GASP), May 2008). John Willi, Rock Cats Vice President and General Manager added "The Rock Cats are proud to be continuing our involvement in the important effort to prevent inhalant abuse among children and youth. Because America's baseball parks are natural gathering places for families and children - they are uniquely useful settings for raising public awareness about a danger that many parents don't even know exists. To the extent that we can continue to raise awareness among Rock Cats fans of all ages, we are delighted to be part of the solution."

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Eastern League Stories from May 21, 2009


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