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Children on March Get Message and Pass It On: Say ‘No’ to Drugs

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Times Staff Writer

Among the crowd of Boy Scout troops, dance groups, school clubs and community organizations, the consensus Saturday was clear: Tell kids to say “no” to drugs and gangs and help them find alternatives to drug- and gang-related life styles.

“You’re not in this alone,” Santa Ana City Councilman Miguel A. Pulido told more than 500 hot and tired children, plus dozens of teen-agers and adults, who munched hot dogs and downed sodas after finishing a two-mile march through Santa Ana’s civic center area. “Every time you say ‘no’ to drugs and gangs, you need good people behind you. Together we have a strong team.”

Typical festival booths such as the ring toss shared space with booths offering literature about substance abuse and rehabilitation. Martial artists and freestyle bicyclists demonstrated their skills--all with a focus on offering kids options to drug abuse and gang involvement.

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“Kids need to have a place to fit in,” said Laurie Hittle, a college student who has worked in several children’s programs in Santa Ana. “Gangs are one place, but there needs to be more things like this to show kids their alternatives.”

‘Do This Every Time’

The event came soon after Orange County’s worst drive-by shooting, in which a teen-ager and a child were killed Sept. 16 in adjacent Garden Grove. Some people said Saturday that the tragedy awakened the community to its gang and drug problems, and encouraged people to turn out at Saturday’s event.

“They should do this every time a (drive-by) shooting happens,” said Gus Godinez, 16, of Santa Ana.

However, most of the children Saturday were mainly concerned about the dangers of drugs and the necessity of avoiding drug addiction. They marched along carrying placards and balloons and shouted, “Don’t be a nerd, say ‘no’ to drugs!”

One young girl, 9-year-old Ruth Martinez, advised the avoidance of drugs “so you’ll live a happy life, and so you’ll have a good career and not work in a bad place. . . . So you don’t have to be fighting a lot and so people can be friends.” She added, “Also, so people will like you the way you are and not just because you have drugs and money.”

Said 13-year-old Frank Bustamente: “Drugs don’t help people, they make life harder. When people take drugs, they think they feel good, but inside they really don’t.”

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Called “A Stride for PRIDE,” the event was coordinated by the Santa Ana group Parks and Recreation Inspire Dignity and Esteem and supported by more than 20 community organizations, including the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Many of the children came from families and neighborhoods where gang and drug involvement are the norm.

“The kids need a positive, they need to feel good about themselves,” said Al Amezcua, vice president of the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “This is a happy moment, a time to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”

Gloria Fenaux, an anti-drug activist, said her 7-year-old son has told her he would like to experiment with drugs when he is older, but she is not worried.

“I think that this generation has heard so much, and has seen that young kids are dying from drugs, that they’re realizing that they don’t have to say ‘yes,’ they don’t have to give in to that peer pressure,” she said.

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