Hanover Cares Named FBI Richmond 2017 Director’s Community Leadership Award Recipient

Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Lee of the FBI Richmond Division, announces the selection of HANOVER CARES as the Division’s 2017 Director’s Community Leadership Award recipient.

HANOVER CARES is a coalition that improves community awareness of substance abuse issues through the development of engagement opportunities for youth and parents. Through the creation of programs, sponsoring and attending events, posts on social media, and the establishment of youth advocacy groups, HANOVER CARES works to target and reduce substance abuse in the Hanover County and central Virginia area.

Several activities that HANOVER CARES support include:

•     Hidden in Plain Sight – educates parents on possible signs of drug and alcohol use;
•     Just Say Something, I’m Listening – provides parents with tools to make the conversation of drug and alcohol use a little easier;
•     Sticker Shock – youth from the program place STOP or WAIT stickers on alcohol cases at grocery stores to remind buyers it’s illegal to purchase alcohol for anyone under the age of 21; and
•     Compliance Checks – supports the compliance checks performed by the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the Town of Ashland Police Department to ensure local businesses are checking identifications and not selling to underage consumers.

HANOVER CARES also sponsors high school students attending a week-long Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project each summer, and partner with Mother’s Against Drunk Driving to have a Power of Parents program included in new driver’s licensing ceremony packets.

This organization has hosted several screenings of the FBI/DEA film “Chasing the Dragon” and numerous Drug Take Back Days. As recently as October 2017, HANOVER CARES partnered with Henrico and Chesterfield counties to host “Revive RVA: Regional Solutions to the Opioid Crisis” wherein the goal was to examine and identify solutions to the increasing issues of heroin and opioid abuse in central Virginia.

“From a law enforcement perspective in today’s society, where alcohol and drug abuse are so prevalent, it’s invaluable to have an organization such as HANOVER CARES available to educate and provide resources to parents and youth,” said SAC Lee. “The programs that HANOVER CARES initiated and the cooperation they have demonstrated with law enforcement and other prevention-minded organizations has made them as asset to the community and very deserving of the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. Congratulations!”