Friday, October 30, 2026
Residents brought unused and expired medications to Brookside School, in North Merrick, last Saturday for the annual Shed the Meds Drug Take Back Day, an initiative aimed at preventing substance misuse and encouraging safe medication disposal.
Organized by the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center in partnership with the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, the Bellmore-Merrick Community Coalition, Tempo Group Counseling Services, the Nassau County Police Department, Community Action for Social Justice and local elected officials, the event offered residents a drive-through drop-off location for unwanted medications, as well as needles from injectable medications and expired EpiPens.
“We want to protect our families and strengthen our community,” Wendy Tepfer, director of the Community Parent Center, said.
Medications left in household medicine cabinets can be accidentally taken by children or accessed by others, Tepfer said, potentially contributing to prescription drug misuse. The event provided residents with a safer alternative to throwing medications away or flushing them down the toilet, which can harm the environment.
Student volunteers helped distribute educational materials, although they were not permitted to handle or collect medications.
For Tepfer, the annual event is part of the Community Parent Center's broader mission to promote health and safety through education and prevention programs. The goal, she said, is to help families raise resilient children who are safe, confident and drug-free, while encouraging responsible medication disposal throughout the year.
“It's a way of unifying the community, bringing everybody together,” she said. “By all working together, we can prevent medication misuse, protect our environment and basically build a healthier and safer community for everybody that lives here.”
Scott Bersin, the school district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said the event demonstrates how collaboration between schools and community organizations can reinforce lessons beyond the classroom.
“Without question, when a community feels bonded with the schools over goals, that's when the education from the school buildings leaks into the households,” Bersin said. “That's when you really can make a difference.”
The district works to maintain consistent educational and extracurricular programming in its schools while collaborating with community partners to reach students and their families, he said. Bersin emphasized that parents and caregivers play a key role in keeping prescription drugs and other potentially harmful substances out of children’s reach.
“The important message is that the families have to stay vigilant when it comes to keeping an eye on what's in the household,” he said.
Eric Caballero, the district's director of physical education, athletics, driver education and health, said that teaching students about the dangers of prescription drug misuse is an important part of health education.
“Prescription drugs oftentimes are a pathway to illicit drugs,” Caballero said. “We're trying to bring awareness not only to that piece, but also how to appropriately get rid of them.”
Initiatives like Shed the Meds, Caballero said, give families an opportunity to apply those lessons at home.
Cindy Wolff, executive director of Tempo Group Counseling Services, emphasized the importance of reaching young people through prevention education and community outreach before substance use becomes a problem. Tempo Group provides school- and community-based services, including classroom instruction and counseling designed to help young people develop healthy coping skills and make informed decisions. The organization has social workers in each of the district’s five schools, Wolff said.
It also offers community education, Narcan training and programs that address misconceptions about substance use.
Wolff said that conversations about medications and substance use should begin early and continue as children grow, with parents, educators and community organizations reinforcing healthy habits and expectations. “There is no ‘too young’ to start setting healthy expectations and thought processes around medications, and substances in general,” Wolff said.
She also stressed the importance of discussing substance use without shame or stigma, making it easier for people to seek help when needed.
“Unfortunately, the development of a substance use disorder can happen to anyone, at any point,” Wolff said. “The more we normalize a conversation around it, the more people are going to seek help a lot easier.”
