Sheriff: Office doesn’t get D.A.R.E. donations
Donate to D.A.R.E. America if you like, but don’t expect the money to get to the county’s chapter.
That’s the warning Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner had for Lincoln residents Thursday.
He said a few weeks ago he saw someone in front of a business giving away kits to help parents gather fingerprints and DNA samples of their children in case they get lost or are kidnapped.
In exchange, they took donations for D.A.R.E. America.
Wagner said the person at the booth told him 5 percent of the money goes to the national Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
Wagner said his office learned this week JM Promotions was going to offer child safety kits outside Lincoln stores through Saturday.
D.A.R.E. America confirmed it was authorized through its “Dare to be Safe Kids” campaign.
Wagner said he doesn’t think there’s anything illegal about what the organization is doing. And he wouldn’t deny the kits are useful, “because they are.”
But he’s concerned the money raised in Lincoln doesn’t stay here.
He said the local D.A.R.E. program has been funded by civic organizations and businesses. Anyone wishing contribute to the local D.A.R.E. program can earmark a donation to the sheriff’s office.
The county’s D.A.R.E. program started in 1989. Lincoln discontinued its D.A.R.E. program in 2000, partly because of a lack of instructors.
That’s the warning Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner had for Lincoln residents Thursday.
He said a few weeks ago he saw someone in front of a business giving away kits to help parents gather fingerprints and DNA samples of their children in case they get lost or are kidnapped.
In exchange, they took donations for D.A.R.E. America.
Wagner said the person at the booth told him 5 percent of the money goes to the national Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
Wagner said his office learned this week JM Promotions was going to offer child safety kits outside Lincoln stores through Saturday.
D.A.R.E. America confirmed it was authorized through its “Dare to be Safe Kids” campaign.
Wagner said he doesn’t think there’s anything illegal about what the organization is doing. And he wouldn’t deny the kits are useful, “because they are.”
But he’s concerned the money raised in Lincoln doesn’t stay here.
He said the local D.A.R.E. program has been funded by civic organizations and businesses. Anyone wishing contribute to the local D.A.R.E. program can earmark a donation to the sheriff’s office.
The county’s D.A.R.E. program started in 1989. Lincoln discontinued its D.A.R.E. program in 2000, partly because of a lack of instructors.
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