Louisiana Couple Brings Red Ribbon Week Drug Use Prevention Program to Local Schools

(NOLA.com) St. Tammany Parish is no exception when it comes to substance abuse problems, but how does a community rally around a cause that can be so daunting? 

It’s about getting in front of the issue, said Seymore D’Fair Foundation Director David Johnson. The key is bringing everyone together to stop kids from getting involved with it in the first place, he says. “We spend all of our money downstream after somebody is already an addict, and there’s nothing proactive on the front end.” 

And that’s why Johnson and wife Dara Lemoine-Johnson are using their retirement years to try and tackle an issue they’ve witnessed firsthand and feel they can impact. The Mandeville couple has started the Louisiana Children and Youth Prevention Coalition to specifically target St. Tammany Parish.

The coalition was started under the Seymore D’Fair Foundation, which the couple also founded together. The mascot, a chipper pelican from the 1984 World’s Fair exhibition in New Orleans, is now not only a symbol of the past but of progress. The coalition, which just had its first official meeting in August, aims to bring together as many community groups as possible for the common goal of substance abuse prevention. This includes meeting monthly to discuss issues, collaborate and share resources — and perhaps most importantly, create prevention programs for school children.

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