How We Got Started
The 25 & Alive program began in 1999 as a grass-roots movement among concerned parents in the community. They knew that underage drinking was taking place in our own community but felt powerless to stop it, even amongst their own children.
They brought their concerns to the Mayor who assembled a core group of individuals to discuss what we could do and how we could help. After several meetings, the answer became clear. The only way we would succeed in addressing this issue would be to involve all facets of the community - schools, churches, City government, the business community, parents and teenagers - and to focus on education.
Representatives from each area of the community volunteered to attend monthly meetings to discuss and implement programs and plan activities that would offer an alternative to underage drinking (these meetings still take place today).
"Unity in the Community" became our unspoken battle cry! We called our partnership "25 & Alive" because the Mayor would always say, "If we can get a child through the rocky years to age 25, they've got a good shot at making it through the rest of their lives."
How We Have Grown
We have changed a lot since our inception in 1999. In 2002, we expanded our mission from focusing solely on underage drinking to include social issues facing parents and children of all ages, including bullying, internet safety, drug and sexual experimentation, and character development; but our focus has remained the same: To provide resources to youth and parents to help them make smart choices.