Families come in all forms, sizes and colors. Their diversity is what makes them so beautiful. We love seeing your lovely #FLFamilyDay dinner photos on social media each year. Thank you to all of the families that have participated in Family Day and our Family Day Photo Contest in the past. We have shared some of their heart-warming photos in this post.

Participating in our Family Day photo contest is a simple way that you can help spread awareness about Family Day and the importance of eating dinner together as a family. Research shows that children who eat dinner with their families 4 or more times a week do better in school and are less likely to use drugs or participate in other destructive behaviors. We all want what’s best for our children. Wouldn’t your family and friends with children want to know that something as simple as regular family dinners can improve parent-child communication?

The National Family Partnership announced the winners of the 2019 National Red Ribbon Photo Contest on December 2. Several Florida residents and schools were included among this year’s winners.

Natalia Solares from Hialeah, FL won a Judges Award in the Home category for Best Use of the Theme. Ms. Solares’ $1000 prize money will go to Youth Co-Op Preparatory Charter School.

Celebrating Red Ribbon Week   

I’m excited to head to the DEA's headquarters for this year's National Red Ribbon Rally. I invite everyone to watch the live webcast of this kickoff event at www.dea.gov on Oct. 7^th at 11 a.m.

During Red Ribbon Week (Oct 23 – 31), youth in schools and communities across the nation pledge to live drug-free by wearing red ribbons and participating in anti-drug events.

This year’s Red Ribbon theme “Send A Message. Stay Drug Free™” really resonates with today’s youth. With the rise of smart phones and social media, sending messages has become a favorite past time for many.  But what kinds of messages are we sending? Are they empowering? Do they encourage those around us?  This year’s Red Ribbon theme certainly fits the bill.  It is a call to action to speak out in support of healthy choices. The theme is also a reminder that by staying drug free, you are sending a message to yourself and others about how much you value yourself, your overall health, your community and your future.

Help us amplify this message. Enter the National Red Ribbon Photo Contest. Encourage others to take the Red Ribbon pledge. Spread the Red Ribbon message on social media by using the hashtags #SendAMessageStayDrugFree, #RedRibbonWeek2019 and #RedRibbonWeek.

We can all play a role in encouraging youth to remain safe, healthy and drug-free.

Peggy 

Win an iPad & $1,000 For Your School

We loved seeing so many of your beautiful #FLFamilyDay dinner photos on social media last year. So we’ve decided to hold another Family Day photo contest.

Take a photo of your family eating dinner together and then post it on the Informed Families’ Facebook page, send it to us in a Facebook message, or post it on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #FLFamilyDay. It’s that simple.

Three winners will be randomly selected to receive a $100 Publix Gift Card. The Florida school with the most entries will receive a $250 Publix Gift Card. The contest ends September 30^th.

We can’t wait to see the family dinner photos you share this year! Take a look at some of our favorites from last year.

Congratulations to the Person Family of Miami-Dade County, the Navarrete Family of Collier County and the Clisby Family of Volusia County on being randomly selected to win a $100 Publix gift card in the 2017 Family Day Photo Contest. Thank you for sharing your family dinner photo on social media with #flfamilyday to help spread the message about the importance of family dinners to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

Stay tuned for our announcement of the school with the most family entries in Florida. The winning school will receive $250 from Informed Families.

Check out some of our favorite family dinner photos from across Florida...

School Entry Winner - Orlando Science Elementary School, Paola Stauffer

Home Entry Winner - Demarco/Reynolds Family, Pompano Beach Elementary

Informed Families is proud to announce the winners of its 2015 Florida Red Ribbon Photo Contest, which takes place as a part of National Red Ribbon Week ® – the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign. The contest, sponsored by Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership encouraged families and schools to decorate their homes and classrooms with this year’s Red Ribbon Week theme, “Respect Yourself. Be Drug Free™.” All this was done to promote the commitment to living a healthy and drug-free lifestyle. The winners, who received the most votes in each category (home entries and school entries), earned $1,000 for their schools and an iPad for themselves.

The school entry winner is Orlando Science Elementary School, led by Administrator Paola Stauffer, who coordinated the effort to decorate the front of the school with this year’s Red Ribbon theme. Paola wins an iPad for herself and $1,000 to be used for drug prevention efforts at the school.

“I loved engaging the entire school community in the contest: students, parents, teachers and the administration.” said Paola Stauffer. “I believe if you start educating children early about drug prevention and involving parents, there will be a greater impact.’

Orlando Science Elementary School Principal, Michael Singleton, said he is very proud of his school and impressed by Paola’s efforts to rally the school in support of Red Ribbon Week.

“I am proud that our school won,” said Principal Singleton. “We have a special group of parents, students, and staff who do what it takes to be successfully, both academically and socially. There is a lot of hard work that goes into Red Ribbon Week and it’s nice to see a direct reward for this team effort.”

The home entry winner in the Florida Red Ribbon Photo Contest is the Demarco/Reynolds family. Pompano Beach Elementary School students, Drew, Abby and Stephen Reynolds, and their family, decorated their home fence with this year’s Red Ribbon theme and ultimately won an iPad and $1,000 for their school, from Informed Families.

“What I liked most about my kids participating in the contest was the theme: ‘Respect Yourself. Be Drug Free,’” said Tina Demarco, Drew, Abby and Stephen’s mother. “I want my children to know that they can be themselves. They don’t need to do drugs to fit in with other people.”

Pompano Beach Elementary School Principal Stephen P. Larson expressed his excitement about the win and the financial support for his school.

“We were thrilled to learn that one of our parents thought enough about the importance of drug education, our students, and our community to enter the statewide contest,” said Principal Stephen P. Larson. “It is indeed a powerful demonstration showing the influence that one person and one family can have on our community. We are excited about the opportunity to invest in current drug prevention materials and the potential that these funds can have on our school.”

National Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 and was started by the National Family Partnership in response to the abduction and murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Since its inception, the campaign has touched millions of lives to promote and celebrate drug free living. Informed Families is the Florida Sponsor of the campaign each year.

“An estimated 80 million people celebrate Red Ribbon Week each year,” said Informed Families President & CEO Peggy Sapp. “We designed the contest to bring the Red Ribbon message home and to give parents a chance to talk about the dangers of drug abuse. By receiving the same message at home, in school and in the community, children are significantly more likely to really hear and benefit from the prevention message.”