PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Picatinny Arsenal officials observed Red Ribbon Week Oct. 23-27 with several anti-drug awareness activities and events for employees and families, including a resiliency fair and an interactive workshop.
“Red Ribbon Week, an initiative advocating against drug and alcohol misuse, has always emphasized the importance of finding healthy, alternative ways to cope with life's challenges,” said Amy Gopel, Picatinny Arsenal’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program Manager and Employee Assistance Program Coordinator. “The very essence of this campaign is to showcase that there are numerous avenues to find joy and satisfaction without resorting to harmful substances. Our ‘Natural High’ workshop perfectly embodies this spirit.”
Gopel and teammates hosted the ‘Natural High’ workshop on Oct. 24 at the Picatinny Arsenal CARES (Community Awareness Resiliency Education Support) Wellness Center. Picatinny officials, in coordination with the installation’s Army Substance Abuse Program, officially opened the doors to the CARES center during last year’s resiliency fair, which was also held in coordination with Red Ribbon Week.
“Succulent and terrarium making, akin to other therapeutic hobbies, is meant to be metaphorical,” Gopel said. “Just like how these plants thrive in the right environment, humans too flourish when nurtured with positive experiences and habits. These activities offer an immediate sense of accomplishment, a moment of mindfulness, and a distraction from external pressures effectively serving as a natural, wholesome way to lift one's spirits.”
The Picatinny Arsenal CARES Team (PACT) was created to help people achieve well-being by providing a multi-use, support service location. PACT is focused on community, awareness, resiliency, education support and prevention to increase positive patterns of healthy lifestyle choices.
“Substance and alcohol misuse often arise from an individual's search for escape, relief, or pleasure,” Gope said. “But through workshops like 'Natural High,' we hope to shed light on the countless healthy alternatives available. Embracing such natural highs can pave the way for a life filled with genuine contentment, devoid of the devastating impacts of substance misuse.”
To highlight the installation’s efforts with local community partners in the fight against drugs, approximately 40 vendors from various facets of the county’s prevention and recovery programs participated in a Resiliency Day Fair in the Lindner Conference Center on Oct. 25. The event is designed to promote and foster mental, emotional, and physical resilience.
Morris County’s Chief Prosecutor, Brad Seabury, provided insights on some trends the county is seeing in drug use and how law enforcement officials are responding and adapting to the ever-changing environment.
The Red Ribbon Campaign originated in 1985, when Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a Marine Corps veteran and police officer turned Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was murdered by drug traffickers in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“His murder would not go in vain, and angered parents and youth in communities so much that they banded together and formed a pact to wear red ribbons as an effort to signal to the drug cartels that enough was enough,” said Kristina Williams, Picatinny Arsenal’s Drug Testing Coordinator and Prevention Assistant.
Since then, the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth and the DEA have spread the word of the Red Ribbon Campaign around the world.
“Their efforts began to attract notice and the country began wearing red ribbons as a symbol to raise awareness of the killings and destruction caused by drugs in America. This event is Picatinny’s effort to bring back that same pact to fight the increasing number of lives affected by drugs in our communities and our workplace,” Williams continued.
In 1990, the Department of Defense officially began observing Red Ribbon Week to raise public awareness and mobilize communities to combat tobacco, alcohol and drug use among military personnel, civilians, and their families.
Employees who believe they may have an addiction problem should contact Amy Gopel, the installation’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program Manager and Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, at 973-724-4357 or for a referral. All screenings are confidential.
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