VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — The AmerisourceBergen Foundation, an independent not-for-profit charitable giving organization focused on human and animal health solutions including prescription drug safety, awarded a grant to Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), a nonprofit focused on creating and maintaining safe, healthy and drug-free communities globally. The grant, which was announced in observance of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27, will support CADCA in developing a new education module. The module is part of CADCA’s successful Youth Leadership curriculum and focuses on training youth on all forms of safe disposal – a critical component in reducing prescription medication misuse and central to the AmerisourceBergen Foundation’s harm-reduction platform.

“CADCA embraces the full continuum of care — from education to treatment and recovery — but we know that to truly be impactful and effective, we need to utilize evidence based primary prevention strategies,” said CADCA chairman and chief executive officer, General Arthur Dean. “CADCA’s Youth Leadership Initiative seeks to empower, inspire and develop our youth leaders who we see as change agents who are changing the world.”

“We’re honored to receive this generous grant from the AmerisourceBergen Foundation to further advance our Youth Leadership program,” said CADCA youth leadership manager Robert Alvarez. “We believe youth advocacy at the community-level is the beginning of a long-term solution to the opioid epidemic. With this grant, we will be able to empower young people in our community and train them on safe disposal – a proven, effective prevention strategy.”

CADCA’s Youth Leadership program prepares youth to act as advocates within their communities and schools by providing foundational knowledge within the classroom and opportunities to take action within communities and on social media. The safe disposal module will complement CADCA’s comprehensive, existing curriculum including the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), logic models, strategic planning, developing interventions, advocating for change, evaluation and sustainability. The safe disposal trainings are anticipated to reach more than 2,000 youth members at CADCA’s National Leadership Forum, Mid-Year Training Institute, and local trainings across the country.

“The AmerisourceBergen Foundation is committed to leveraging our resources and strengths to prevent prescription drug misuse through education and community engagement,” said Gina Clark, president of the AmerisourceBergen Foundation. “Youth, in particular, play a significant role in prevention and awareness through peer-to-peer education. With their influence, sustainable change can be realized in communities across the country. We look forward to continuing to work with the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America to expand their successful Youth Leadership program.”

The AmerisourceBergen Foundation and CADCA are exploring opportunities to further their partnership by expanding the Youth Leadership Initiative to implement more hands-on experiences for youth within communities. The AmerisourceBergen Foundation awarded this grant to CADCA through its Opioid Resource Grant Program, which enables the Foundation to support and advance ideas from innovative nonprofits, at the local and national level, to fight against opioid misuse. Through its Safe Disposal Support Program, the AmerisourceBergen Foundation has also distributed more than 1 million drug deactivation resources to more than 200 organizations across the United States since the program launched in 2017.