SNOWE AND COLLINS ANNOUNCE $99,990 DOJ GRANT TO CITY OF GARDINER FOR DRUG-FREE COMMUNITIES SUPPORT PROGRAM

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced today that the City of Gardiner's Area Community Collaborative will receive a $99,990 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to fund its Drug-Free Communities Support Program.

"Substance abuse is a critical issue both in Maine and throughout the nation," said Senators Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. "We are pleased that the Gardiner Area Community Collaborative has been funded to help address this issue in Maine."

Through this grant, the Gardiner Area Community Collaborative seeks to reduce substance abuse among youth in southern Kennebec County by connecting them with support that fulfills the five tenets of America's Promise, a national effort to cultivate community leadership and service by young people: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, marketable skills and opportunities to give back. These connections will occur through community support systems existing in neighborhoods and towns. In addition, the coalition will mobilize communities in the region to build and strengthen the character and competence of the youth in the southern Kennebec County.