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You wouldn't think a 6-year-old would need a drug prevention program. She doesn't. Aracely Marquez was at the Courage to Speak Foundation's family night Tuesday because the program had an impact on her mom.
"I first came to Courage to Speak in 1999 at St. Thomas Church," said Jona Marquez, 28. "I come every once in a while because I think [Courage to Speak founder Ginger Katz] is excellent. I help out with the youth group and some of them are here."
Children were an integral part of the event held at West Rocks Middle School. Volunteers said 104 people registered, and each represented a family. First they had dinner, then the kids mobbed a dog a field beagle who represented Sunny, the dog Katz uses to touch kids hearts in a picture book about the night her son died of a drug overdose.
Sunny's Story is part of the curriculum at area schools. Sunny tried to save 20-year-old Ian Katz's life by waking up his mother, but was unsuccessful. That was more than 14 years ago, but the dog is still having impact.
A series of children walked up to a microphone in front of hundreds of people in the school's auditorium and said so, reading letters they had written to Katz after they finished "Sunny's Story."
"After what happened to Ian I will never do drugs, said Anastasia Negron, a Brookside Elementary School pupil. I don't want to get hurt or get addicted to it."
Hannah Parks said the part where Sunny laid on Ian's chest as he was dying really hit her hard. "I still can't stop thinking about how Ian's life was taken by drugs," she said.
All the children expressed sympathy for Ian's mom. "I wish you didn't have to lose your son," said Jayda Cruz, a West Rocks Middle School student. "I can't imagine how it feels."
Devon Hubbert, 17, said he had been drug free for three months. "I was touched with her story ... so I stopped," he said.
Did you go through the Courage to Speak curriculum? Do you think it works?
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