Winner of car donates it back

GEORGE NEWS - Sue-Jeänne Jenkins from Hoekwil has won the Suzuki S-Presso that was up for grabs in the Win a Car Competition of People Against Substance Abuse (Pasa). She kindheartedly donated the vehicle back to the organisation.

"The donation came as a huge and welcome surprise to us. We sold the car back to Suzuki," said Pasa CEO Freddy Trout.

The draw was held at Suzuki on Monday 18 July after the competition ended on 30 June.

Pasa empowers youth with life skills programmes for the prevention of habit- and addiction-forming substance abuse. They provide early intervention, support, and aftercare services, primarily to at-risk youth in schools in the Western Cape.

"Our main objective is to equip young people with the necessary skills and knowledge to live lives of purpose and destiny. We want to see young people realising the importance of making quality decisions that will impact their lives positively and to see young people making a difference in their own communities.

"We try to show them how society, friends, media, and negative forces within themselves can rob them of their purpose and hijack their futures," said Trout.

"Schools are key partners in achieving this objective and that is why Pasa has adopted a strong prevention approach to substance abuse, because it is better to prevent than to repair later."

Campaign launched on 19 July

Pasa launched its annual Substance Abuse Prevention Campaign on Tuesday 19 July and they are planning to visit at least 71 schools between July and September to speak to Grade 6-9 learners about key issues relating to substance abuse and addiction.

They will also be speaking to learners about bullying, sexual abuse and human trafficking.

"We can see all over the country young people and children are disappearing, some being kidnapped in front of their school gates, and these criminals are just getting more bold every day. Our young people and children cannot make informed decisions if they are not informed and that is why the programmes we do are so important.

"We also want to provide each learner with a very informative booklet with all the information that we speak about in detail. This booklet also reaches the parents of these learners and adds even more value to the family if its contents are read by siblings and extended family."

The booklets are printed at a cost of R10 per learner.

Trout is calling on all businesses in George to support their campaign by helping them sell stickers and bumper stickers that were specifically designed to raise funds and create awareness around International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

This is held every year on 26 June, but because in South Africa it falls in the school holidays it is observed on 26 August.

Pasa has been in operation in the Garden Route since 2006 and was registered with the Department of Social Development in 2009. It is also a registered 18A and Public Benefit Organisation with Sars.

Any person or business that would like to get involved and support this campaign and buy stickers or bumper stickers or sponsor a learner may contact Freddy Trout on 071 090 4450 / freddy@pasacaw.co.za or Wayne Windvoël on 071 469 9353/wayne@pasacaw.co.za.

Ruan Smith of Suzuki George did the draw.