Project First Goal

For the fifth consecutive year the Regina Pats Hockey Club has partnered with the RCMP to educate students on substance abuse through the program “Project First Goal”. Our goal is to raise awareness in Regina Elementary schools about the effects of drug use.

Players from the Regina Pats, and members of the RCMP and the Regina City Police have volunteered once again to participate in presentations at various schools in and around the Regina area. Over the past four years, our players have helped raise awareness about substance abuse to over 4500 Regina students.

To increase their substance abuse knowledge, five Regina Pats players were escorted by the RCMP to Vancouver where they observed first hand the different effects that these substances have on individuals.

The Players will make approximately 10 - 15 school appearances over a few months, speaking to students in grades 6, 7 & 8 about what they experienced. The students will be shown a video and have the opportunity to ask the Players and members of the RCMP any questions they may have.

Below are photos taken over the past five seasons of the Regina Pats visit to
Vancouver's East Hastings

  
   Hasting Street, a six by six block radius is home to thousands of drug addicted people.
Players take a walk during the day and stop to talk to a drug addict currently living on the streets of
                    East Side Vancouver.                           
                         
            
          Players pose for a picture in the                     Players get a tour of the slum infested
              in the heart of  East Hastings                  Hotels where some addicts are "fortunate"
                                                                            enough to live if they have enough money

              
             
The Regina Pats players got the opportunity to meet and hear the stories of many
      addicts who call Vancouver's East Hastings Home. 
 

For further details on this program, please contact Kim Flaman @ 337-1531 or email kflaman@reginapats.com

We would like to give a special 'Thanks' to our sponsors who have once again made this program possible: Canadian Tire, Crestview Chrysler, Brewsters Brewing Co., Old Dutch Foods, The Co-operators, Signature Smiles and Greg Johnson Photography

 

Each year, the players that have participated in Project First Goal get presented with The Commanding Officer's Certificate of Appreciation for their involvement with Project First Goal.

Alexis Urszulan, a student from St. Bernadette School wrote an essay on Project First Goal shown below.

The Regina Pats and the R.C.M.P. came to our school to deliver a drug presentation called "Project First Goal". During the presentation the Pats talked and showed a video about their experiences in East Hastings, Vancouver.

The "Project First Goal" presentation was unlike any drug presentation I have ever seen. I liked the idea of showing a video. What I liked about the video is it wasn't actors or kids playing out a skit and then saying "don't do drugs", it was real life. I also liked how they showed different people's stories. It added more impact to the video. It showed that once you're an addict you're always an addict, because even if you're off drugs for ten years, a familiar smell could get you addicted again.

The presentation taught me that once you're hooked on drugs it is expremley hard to get off them. I also learnt what common drugs are being sold in high schoos like alcohol, ecstasy and marijuana. Now it will be easier for me to stay away from them. It also showed me that people will go itno debt and spend all their money to aquire drugs and feed their habit. Drugs take over and control your life. Your whole life goes downhill. You don't care about your family, friends or anything. In the end you don't even care about yourself, only the drugs. You end up dirty, broke, homeless and sometimes in trouble with the law.

This will definitley effect my life. I've never wanted to do drugs and this presentation confirmed my reasons why. One picture that will always staty with me is, when a women in the video laid down and had someone else inject heroin into her neck. That shocked me! When or if I'm ever offered drugs all I need to do is visualize that women and saying no will be easy for me. Another piece of information that was interesting to me was about friends and drugs. If one of my friends were on drugs, I would try to help them (like you suggested) but, if they offered me drugs or refused my help, I would end that friendship.

I think this presentation is very appropriate for children my age. It shows them what life is really like on the streets. Sometimes kids my age need to see graphic pictures like that. The presentation shows the extent people will go to to aquire drugs, like stealing. It also shows how old people look once they've been on drugs and how it destroys their appearance and body (rotten teeth, etc.) Most of all it teaches that once you're addicted, you're always addicted. It will definitely make other children think twice before making a decision to try drugs.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my essay. I enjoyed your presentation, it was very informative. It's a wonderful thing that you're doing. It's nice that you're spending your time so that you could change the course of a child's life.

The presentation was outstanding – one of the best that we have hosted for our Middle Level students.  The players were excellent speakers and professional in the manner with which they answered questions. The R.C.M.P. members provided some informative information – what a powerful way to work with students! Thanks again for making this happen for our school. - Barb Lawrence, Principal at Balgonie Elementary School