email correspondence with Inga Glodowski of The Partnership at Drugfree.org
Dear Brad,
I wanted to write you a personal note to express our thanks for your donation of $500 yesterday. I’ve read with great interest about all of your excellent work in honor of your sister, Laura. And we are honored to be among those nonprofits you have deemed worthy of your support.
You know all too well that substance abuse devastates far too many families. But you also know that there is hope! Resources are available, and it is our challenge to connect parents and caregivers with the information they need to take action when their child has a problem.
With your support, the Partnership will offer the first and only national, bilingual, toll-free Help Line where parents and caregivers can speak to an expert about how to help a child with a substance problem. We are very excited about this project, and see it as the natural evolution of our efforts to build online, science-based resources for parents at every stage of the drug/alcohol usage continuum – from prevention through treatment and recovery. The Help Line will bring these tools to life, and also help reach the 26% of Americans who do not use the Internet.
Thanks again, Brad, for your kindness. Together we can help parents to ensure that fewer children and teens struggle with addition.
My best regards,
Inga
PS. I’m curious to know how you came to know about our organization? We’re just beginning to reach out to individual donors and, given your experience in philanthropy, I’d love to hear your advice on what we could do to better tell our story and involve more people.
Dear Inga,
Thanks for your kind words. Since the launch of our website www.bradmersereau.com in May 2006 I have attempted to expand our networking influence. Through internet research I learned of the Partnership and added a link on our Sobriety Resources webpage. Locally we support the Oregon Partnership whose focus is similar to yours. They offer a 24/7 Help Line and also specialize in suicide prevention. We co-sponsored with OP the Laura Mersereau Memorial Essay contest in December 2008 and received 125 essays from 24 area high schools. The students explained how they maintain sobriety midst peer pressure and with effective drug/alcohol refusal-skills how they live their dreams above the influence of addictive substances. There is a link to all essays posted on our Community webpage. I hope you will let others know at the Partnership of these thoughtful responses and our Sobriety Pledge webpage. I also hope you will encourage youngsters to take the Pledge. We provide links to CASA research on our Sobriety Pledge webpage and agree with Joseph A. Califano Jr.’s focus on proactive measures. He concludes a child who reaches 21 without drugs or alcohol most likely will never become addicted. Our mission remains to make Laura’s memory matter and we are grateful for your outstanding advocacy.
Sincerely, Brad Mersereau