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RISE ABOVE COLORADO HOSTS DENVER EVENT TO CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF #IRISEABOVE, A STATEWIDE DRUG AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Twelve-city public art and digital media campaign engages and educates more than 5,000 teens from around the state and creates largest teen-created mural in Colorado

DENVER, COLO. – June 3, 2015 – Rise Above Colorado, a statewide drug-prevention organization providing Colorado’s teens with information, resources and healthy lifestyle alternatives to help them choose a life free of drug abuse, celebrates the success of a 12-city teen campaign with a final event in Denver for local youth and supporters of Rise Above Colorado. The Denver event will include the unveiling of a large-scale public art mural created by more than 1,500 youth from 12 Colorado communities.

The Rise Above Colorado team brought the #IRiseAbove awareness campaign to 12 communities in Colorado through more than 75 meetings, community summits and public art gatherings at local schools, youth-serving organizations and conferences. In addition, Rise Above Colorado engaged more than 5,000 teens throughout the state through its online campaign (www.IRiseAboveCO.org), in which youth used uploaded photos and social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to celebrate the activities that help them resist the temptation to use drugs.

Rise Above Colorado has raised awareness with the #IRiseAbove campaign in the following locations: Steamboat Springs, Lamar, Greeley, Grand Junction, Rifle, Pueblo, Fort Morgan, Mesa County, Canon City, Durango, San Luis Valley, and Denver. Denver will be host to the final invitation-only campaign event of the 2015-2016 school year. Rise Above Colorado will be hosting the event at The Holiday Event Center, 2644 W 32nd Ave, Denver, CO 80211, on Thursday, June 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. and it will include:

• Unveiling of teen-created public art mural
• Recognition of campaign champions, including Scott Carpenter High School in Adams County and Lori Hammer, Director of Partners for HOPE Center in Lamar, for the work they have done in their communities to educate and engage teens in the #IRiseAbove campaign
• An overview of the campaign successes from Rise Above Colorado’s Teen Action Council, a select group of teens who represent the geographic and personal diversity of Colorado whose role it is to help extend drug prevention messages through education and service projects
• An opportunity for teens and adults who are attending the event to learn how they can support the #IRiseAbove campaign and engage in collaboration with schools and community partners to identify key issues to build a stronger anti-drug community
• An opportunity to encourage teens to participate and stay connected to the campaign by taking and uploading photos representing how they “rise above drugs” in their daily lives to the digital campaign feed at #IRiseAbove.
• Food and youth entertainment along with special prizes for attendees

“Teen drug abuse is a significant concern among youth in Colorado and this campaign has allowed us to extend our prevention and education efforts to many teens throughout the state, said Kent MacLennan, executive director, Rise Above Colorado. "We were able to reach more than 5,000 teens by working with our partners in 12 communities to engage them in our community education summits and art events, as well as through our digital campaign platform. We plan to continue to influence Colorado teens by engaging them in ongoing conversations about healthy alternatives to drug abuse.”

Rise Above Colorado collaborated with various local supporters and sponsors to make this campaign successful in its inaugural year including: Kaiser Permanente of Colorado, Comcast, Wells Fargo, Delta Dental of Colorado, West Star Aviation, Elite Brands of Colorado, Mile High Outdoor, Outfront Media, GroundFloor Media, Wayin, Creative Strategies Group, Pink Shag Design and Elevated Third.

About the #IRiseAbove Campaign
The Rise Above Colorado team created this campaign concept to reach Colorado teens based on best practices from its work in Colorado communities with the Colorado Meth Project’s Meth Prevention Lesson and Not Prescribed, Rise Above Colorado’s prescription drug prevention lesson. Rise Above Colorado is using various vehicles to engage teens across the state in its #IRiseAbove campaign including its regular school and community outreach efforts, peer-to-peer outreach through its Teen Action Council and digital and social media content. Rise Above Colorado is also aiming to engage adults, community leaders and corporate sponsors in its #IRiseAbove outreach efforts.

About Rise Above Colorado
Rise Above Colorado is a drug abuse prevention organization providing Colorado’s teens with information, resources and healthy lifestyle alternatives to help them choose a life free of drug abuse. The Rise Above team proactively collaborates with teens, educators, community leaders and partners to provide science-based, compelling drug prevention lessons (http://riseaboveco.org/resources.html#school), face-to-face outreach and uniquely tailored community prevention efforts across Colorado that impact perceptions and attitudes about drug abuse. Rise Above Colorado is affiliated with The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a national nonprofit organization working to help families solve the problem of teen drug abuse. For more information, visit http://www.riseaboveco.org.

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Media Contacts:

Carolann Samuels
GroundFloor Media
(303) 775-9282
csamuels@groundfloormedia.com

Kent MacLennan
Rise Above Colorado
(720) 425-4200
kent@riseabovecolorado.org

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