Four years ago Hudson, Ohio’s Community First, an initiative working toward drug and alcohol prevention with teens, had become mostly dormant. But in the three years since a group of philanthropic businessmen decided to help re-invigorate the initiative, Community First has become a highly visible organization in Hudson. Co-coordinator Laura Gasbarro estimates that nearly everyone in the town of roughly 22,500 knows what Community First is and most know what the Developmental Assets are. The work that she and fellow co-coordinator Cheryl Rauch have done, says Gasbarro, is all based around an action plan that seeks to engage the many facets of community in Hudson.
A large part of the action plan is their Take a Second. Make a Difference campaign. The campaign was launched this January with a full page ad in the local newspaper announcing the campaign and then a letter to the editor in the same newspaper, explaining what Take a Second. Make a Difference is and why it is important to the community.
The advertisement in the January newspaper highlights the importance of the campaign and suggests what adults and leaders in the community should do to ‘make a difference’ by telling adults to:
Take a moment to…
- Learn the names of your neighbors kids and make an added effort to say hi
- Ask for opinions and input from young people
- Seek out and ask young adults to serve on committees
- Smile at a group of teenagers
- Send a note to a young relative or friend just to say…‘you are on my mind’ or ‘I am proud of your accomplishment’
- Attend an activity/event of a young person other than your own child
- Offer to help a young person who looks like he/she is in need – even if they answer “NO”, you’ve shown that you care
In February the group increased the campaign’s visibility in the community. For the entire month the downtown hosted 23 red and yellow banners reading “Take a Second. Make a Difference,” to reinforce the initial newspaper advertisement and letter to the editor. They also launched a recognition program, aimed at visually identifying individuals that made a difference in the community by giving them a bright ‘cling’ for their car and sending them a congratulatory letter. A similar program was launched in the schools.
This month will tie into Ready-Set-Relax, encouraging people to ‘take a second’ and spend time with their families. April is ‘Merchant Month.’ Local merchants will promote the campaign by displaying ‘Take a Second. Make a Difference’ posters and clings in windows and giving away ‘Take a Second. Make a Difference’ memorabilia. Restaurants will have placemats, another merchant will have sippy cups, or rulers and bookmarks. The initiative will also have a meeting with the Downtown Merchants Association to talk to members about the ways that youth and teens interact and how they can communicate with them in positive ways.
During May the initiative will sponsor ‘Rock Fest Friday’ on the town green, aimed at giving youth something positive and fun to do on Friday afternoons. In June a local business will hold a Watermelon Festival which will raise money for the ‘Take a Second. Make a Difference’ campaign. And this fall will be host to numerous back-to-school related activities, all encouraging people to take a moment of their time and make a difference in the lives of young people.
The detailed plan of Community First is designed to reach out to engage many adults in the community. And they’re feeling pretty good about the work that they’ve done so far. “We’re in the third year of the project, and it feels like we’re finally up to speed,” says co-coordinator Gasbarro. “Next year we plan to go to the major businesses in the area and have them incorporate asset building into their policies.” That’s how they’re doing it in Hudson, Ohio.
Visit the Hudson Community First webpage
View the Take a Second. Make a Difference posters developed by Search Institute
Laura Gasbarro can be reached by phone at (330) 650-0752 and by email at gazbar81@aol.com
Cheryl Rauch can be reached by phone at (330) 528-3116
