L.B. AWARE encourages alcohol-free Splash

Coalition against underage drinking provides free hot chocolate during fundraiser.

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Long Beach AWARE, a non-profit group aimed at preventing underage drinking, provided beachgoers with free hot chocolate and coffee at the Polar Bears Super Bowl Splash last Sunday.

Two years ago, former Long Beach Middle School Principal Dr. Michele Natali gathered a group of seventh graders to volunteer to clean the beach following the plunge. After discovering an overwhelming number of empty alcohol bottles, Natali did not allow them to pitch in the next year, AWARE representatives said.

“It became a real conversation and a moral dilemma because you want to encourage students to volunteer for something as worthy as Make-A-Wish but you don’t want to expose them to [the alcohol use],” said Judi Vining, the executive director of Long Beach AWARE.


The free beverages, made available through a grant by The Silvian Foundation, were intended to offer an alternative to the large amount of alcohol consumed during the annual event. School Board President Roy Lester came up with the idea, Vining said, and helped run the table set up between Riverside and Long Beach Road. Middle school students volunteered, while the manager of a local McDonald’s donated cups.

“It was so well received,” Vining said. “When people came up to us, they were like ‘this is great, that’s so nice, how much money do you want?’ We don’t want anything; just support the fact that when we have family events, we want to keep them substance free.”