FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 31, 2018

Contact: Matt Birchenough, Media Coordinator, 201-916-1032, media@drugfreenj.org

The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey Participates in White House Sports and Fitness Day

United States Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams discusses the importance of athletics with students from St. Francis Academy of Union City 

WASHINGTON – The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) helped to highlight the benefits of youth sports participation at the White House Sports and Fitness Day on Wednesday in the nation’s capital.

The White House invited the Partnership, which was accompanied at the event by nearly 40 New Jersey students, to join President Trump, United States Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and several star athletes, including former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

“The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is proud to have participated in the White House Sports and Fitness Day, which put a spotlight on the positive impact athletics can have on a child,” PDFNJ Executive Director Angelo Valente said. “Youth sports provide children with fantastic opportunities to improve their physical and mental well-being and can be a vital tool for preventing them from engaging in substance use and misuse.”

A 2014 review of 17 longitudinal studies on sports participation and substance use found that a majority of the analyses observed an association between playing sports and reduced illicit drug use during adolescence.

PDFNJ collaborated with St. Francis Academy in Union City, a longtime supporter of the Partnership, to identify children to accompany the organization on this outing.

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Best known for its statewide substance use prevention advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $100 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception, the Partnership has garnered 166 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.