Georgia College & State University (GCSU) received a renewal $9,359 grant to continue participating in the Georgia Young Adult Program, which promotes education and awareness to youth about safety issues like underaged drinking, impaired driving and other highway behaviors that put lives at risk.
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety awarded the grant with funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The goal of the grant is to reduce highway injuries and deaths through educational programs and safety-related conferences. This is the 17th year Georgia College has received this grant.
“This grant allows us to provide educational events to our students with the intention of influencing our students’ decisions when it comes to high-risk drinking,” said Rachel Pope, senior health educator in the Office of Health Promotion at Georgia College.
“We hope that through these events and activities our students make lower-risk alcohol choices to make our campus safer and healthier,” she said.
The governor’s program addresses injuries and fatalities caused by accidents involving young adult drivers. Partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the state directly connect the program to its target audience.
The Young Adult program at Georgia College coordinates annual impaired-driving prevention programs like Alcohol Awareness Trivia nights; training for peer health educators; and events for National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week (held the third week in October), spring break, graduation and summer orientation. The program is integrated into all aspects of campus life, including the university’s Greek-letter organizations, student athletes, campus police, health/wellness departments and counseling services.
“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is working with all of our highway safety partners to reverse the increase in traffic deaths we have seen in the United States in the last two years, and the goal of this project is to prevent crashes and save lives on our roads,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
“We ask everyone to join the mission of saving lives on our roads by driving the speed limit, wearing your seat belt, staying off the phone when driving and never driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” Poole said.
The grant year for this award is Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023.
For more information about the program call the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety at 404-656-6996 or visit www.gahighwaysafety.org.
