Please help LICADD this Holiday Season!
December 12, 2009
Dear Friend:
As we begin the holiday season and wrap-up 2009, we wanted to fill you in on some of the great things happening at LICADD and ask you to make a year-end gift that will help us continue our progress into 2010.
This year – 2009 – was among the most exciting in LICADD’s 53-year history as we welcomed a new executive director, enhanced our clinical staff, revamped some key programs and redoubled our efforts in the midst of a teen heroin epidemic that has thrown thousands of local families into crisis and claimed far too many young lives. Here’s just a sampling of some of our recent achievements:
*Expanded our hours to include evenings and weekends and re-opened new offices in Riverhead and Ronkonkoma.
*Provided addiction assessments, family interventions, referrals to treatment and relapse prevention services to more than 2,500 men, women and adolescents.
*Conducted alcoholism and drug abuse workshops for more than 1,000 young people.
*Educated more than 1,000 parents about how to talk with their kids about drugs and alcohol.
*Became the only Nassau County organization certified to run “Too Good for Drugs,” an evidence-based prevention program for K-6 youth.
*Distributed more than 10,000 pieces of educational literature.
*Redesigned and re-launched our website reaching more than 25,000 unique visitors.
*Secured a federal grant and launched a new mentoring program for kids in Nassau whose mothers are incarcerated.
*Served as an expert resource for reporters and appeared in more than 50 print, television, radio and online news stories, and taking a leadership role in responding to this summer’s tragic Taconic Parkway crash and our region’s opiate crisis.
*Launched new anger management workshops, family support groups and a professional training series.
All of these activities have a singular focus: to save lives. We know that drug and alcohol abuse is 100% preventable and we know that addiction, if left untreated, is a progressive and often fatal disease. Driven by such urgency and committed to creating healthier and safer communities, we are poised to launch some great programs in the months ahead. It is truly our time to shine and we hope you’ll help us do even more great things in 2010.
We know that you are probably inundated with requests for support this holiday season. Most of them came printed on expensive paper, with flashy 4-color graphics and text written by an ad agency. That’s not our style and frankly, we’d rather spend our funds doing what we do best: helping individuals and families find a path to recovery.
LICADD runs almost entirely on community contributions and donations from people like you. We don’t have fancy offices, glossy brochures and a stable of administrators. Our budget is lean, our overhead is minimal and our operations are laser-focused on our core mission of saving lives. That means that your donation goes further when you give to LICADD. And today more than ever, every dollar counts.
We appreciate your consideration and are very thankful for your past support. It’s because of people like you that we are able to continue our life-saving work. Best wishes from our LICADD family to you and yours as we work together to ensure a happy, safe and joyous holiday season.
Click here to make an online donation right now!
Sincerely,
Curt Webster Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D.
Board Chair Executive Director
“We felt so scared, so alone and so helpless. We’d been down this road before with my son, but this time felt different – I think because he was using heroin. You gave my son (and me!) the reality check he needed in a caring, compassionate, yet firm way. You talked about treatment options, gave us great advice about dealing with the insurance company and helped us feel hopeful again. My son has been clean for 42 days now and I truly think you helped save his life and our family.”
-Mother of an 18-year-old from Commack
