Third annual Family Day celebrated in Allamakee County

Families from the Allamakee Community School District joined together Monday, September 27 to celebrate the County’s third annual celebration of Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM. Family Day is a national movement launched by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in 2001. The local event was hosted by Community Connections, Allamakee Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), Helping Services for Northeast Iowa, and the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative. To remind families of the importance of family dinners, a free meal and entertainment were provided thanks to generous donations from the community, with the family meal served at Waukon High School (pictured). Informational materials, free cookbooks, and other handouts were also provided. For more information and recipes for family-friendly dinners, visit www.casafamilyday.org.
The purpose of Family Day is to educate parents and community members that “frequent family dinners are a simple, effective way to prevent substance abuse in kids.”  Studies show that families who consistently sit down for meals together have kids who are 45% less likely to drink alcohol and 66% less likely to use drugs. They are also more likely to get good grades in school and report that they think their parents are proud of them. Donors for this years’ Family Day event included Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness, Quillin’s, Fareway, Pamida, Kwik Star, Allamakee Farm Bureau, Hartig Drug, Be Catered and ASAP. To learn more about the importance of family dinners or any other substance abuse prevention programs in the area, contact Jean Bossom, ASAP, at jbossom@co.allamakee.ia.us or 568-2204 or Katie Bee, Helping Services of Northeast Iowa, at kbee@helpingservices.org or 563-387-1720. Submitted photo.