Community Gathers to Make a Difference at #SuperheroME 24/7 Concert

Saturday, Oct. 24, Community Coalitions for Change and youth from various cities gathered at Fleming Park in Colton for a youth concert. The goal of the event was to raise awareness in the mission to reduce the availability and access youth have to alcohol. This project and event happened through partnerships between Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD) Community Cabinet Mental and Physical Health and Awareness Committee, Think Together, MHS Central Valley Prevention Program, and the Community Coalitions for CHANGE. The #SuperHeroME 24/7 Project focuses on the communities of Colton, Bloomington, and Grand Terrace with a primary focus of bringing awareness to the access children have to alcohol and drugs. An adult can be fined for giving anyone underage the opportunity to access such through a gathering like a party or get-together. “The #SuperheroME 24/7 project consists of youth wearing a bracelet with 24 links and getting pledges from seven adults to change the conditions in their environment, such as high availability and accessibility to alcohol and other drugs,” said Coalition member Paul Rasso. The adults sign these pledges and wear bracelets to commit to not allow nor facilitate underage drinking and drug abuse. According to Rasso, there are 11 elementary schools in the CJUSD participating in the Junior #SuperheroMe 24/7 project through Think Together’s after-school programs. The event brought an ample amount of talented youth community members together to showcase that talent. At the event, according to the youth, they were able to receive over seven-hundred pledges from adults throughout the community, which isn’t including those that haven’t been signed or counted as of yet. Rasso said the message the youth is trying to send to the community is: “Please don’t give up on me, SuperheroME by not making it easy for me to have access to alcohol and don’t provide a place to drink it… listen to the statistics, don’t make it harder for us to find a safe and healthy environment and support the Coalition’s efforts to CHANGE the community we live in.” Michael Townsend of Mental Health Systems, who also attended the event said, “The most significant part of it wasn’t just the amazing talent but the youth were aware of the importance of staying clean and sober.” Most of the community youth members performed on the stage, the talent ranged from singing, playing a guitar, and dancing.