With the Holiday season in full swing, Students Against Drinking and Driving and the Prince Edward Island Liquor Control Commission have teamed up to send a strong message against impaired driving. Once again this year, grade school students from across the Island have been invited to create personal messages, using words, pictures or symbols for “The Liquor Bag Project,” which ask adults not to drive while impaired. The messages will be placed on PEILCC paper bags and distributed at commission outlets across the province. Customers of the PEILCC will start seeing the messages over the next few weeks.
“The holiday season is a very important time for families,” says Jodi Harper, Provincial co-ordinator for SADD. “Sending these important messages against drinking and driving, on liquor bags at the point of sale, serves as an excellent tool to remind Islanders that drinking and driving can have a terrible impact on families and on the community as a whole.”
The hope is that the personal messages from children will touch people’s hearts and encourage those people to find a safe way home.
“Two of our goals are Public Safety and Social Responsibility. This involves increasing awareness and promotion of the responsible use of alcohol through several initiatives such as the SADD Paper Bag Project,” says Minister of Development and Technology Richard Brown, who is also responsible for the PEI Liquor Control Commission. “In launching the 2007 initiative, we are very pleased to see the level of support from our partners, which included numerous schools across the province, various RCMP detachments and the Department of Transportation and Public Works.”
“My department is very pleased to support this worthwhile project,” says Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ron MacKinley. “I believe these messages will serve as an excellent reminder for people to drink responsibly.”
The bags will be in circulation starting on December 14th and will be available throughout the holiday season.