Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse, Inc.

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P R E S S   R E L E A S E

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:     Curt Lavarello, Executive Director         941- 922-SAFE (7233)

SARASOTA STUDENTS TO RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS
 AT LOCAL EVENT

"10 Youth leaders selected to receive $1,000 scholarshipS"

The Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse (SCoSA) will present 10 area high school students with $1,000.00 college scholarships as part of their 1st Annual “Shining Stars” Scholarship and Awards Banquet.  The event is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28, 2006 from 6 - 10 PM at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium (801 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota).  SCoSA partnered with the Sarasota County School District, who provided judges for the scholarship program, and over 60 students applied.  The 10 students selected were:

1)    ROBERT APPLE from Venice High School, son of R. Warren and Nancy Apple

2)    ELIZABETH BUCKEN from Riverview High School, daughter of Hans Bucken and Johanna Krempel

3)    MEGAN COGBURN from Venice High School, daughter of Dr. William and Dianne Cogburn

4)    CHANNING COOKERLY from Pine View High School, daughter of Kelly Cookerly

5)    ALISHA GUSTITUS from North Port High School, daughter of Anthony and Rhonda Gustitus

6)    BRANAN JACOBS from Riverview High School, son of Torrey Jacobs

7)    TAMESHA MILLS from Cyesis High School, daughter of Dorothy Mills

8)    NELLY MOLINA from Sarasota High School, daughter of Aleyda Agudeks

9)    VALERIA OBI from Booker High School, daughter of Augusta Obi

10)  AMANDA SMITH from Cardinal Mooney High School, daughter of Robert and Julienne Smith

Legendary Head Football Coach Bobby Bowden (Florida State University) will be on hand that evening and will speak with area students about leadership, mentoring and the importance of maintaining a substance free lifestyle.    

“These young people clearly demonstrated the importance of being a role model to other students", states Curt Lavarello, ScoSA’s Executive Director.  "Often times we don’t think about the ill effects of substance abuse until it affects us directly, so events like this are important to spread the message of prevention" continued Lavarello.  “For every dollar we spend in prevention, we save the community seven dollars, so the community is wise to support initiatives like this”, continued Lavarello.

The funds raised for the scholarships came directly from the business community, who rallied around this event from its inception.  “Our business community has helped us immensely, but we still have a lot of work to do”, stated Tom Randle, Board Chair of the Coalition and CEO for Sarasota Coastal Credit Union, one of the events major sponsors.

Those interested in becoming involved as an event sponsor may call Mr. David Striplin, the event Chair and SCoSA Board member, at (941) 366-0012.

Additional information is available at www.SCOSA.org, or by calling 941-922-SAFE.

 

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| P.O. Box 51985 | Sarasota, FL 34232-0336 |