A Wapakoneta Girl Scout just made a tremendous purchase for the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office that will benefit the entire county! Emma Hunley with Troop 2063 raised $50,000 and purchased a brand new pickup truck for the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office DARE program. She pursued this project to complete her Girl Scout Gold Award which is the highest award in Girl Scouts and equivalent to the Eagle Scout. When Emma heard the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office budget would be reduced due to decreases of tax revenue from the pandemic, she knew she had to help, and with her dream becoming a reality, Emma hopes she inspires other girls that they can do anything.

The Lima Police Department and D.A.R.E. teamed up for the annual D.A.R.E. Essay Competition, where young students write an essay on the lessons they learned in D.A.R.E. and how to apply the D.A.R.E. decision-making model when presented with a decision. The students were taken to Westgate Entertainment Center, where they celebrated with pizza, fun games, and bowling for their outstanding work.

Twice a year, the Kiwanis Club of Lima distributes funds from their annual fundraisers to divide among local organizations. Today twelve were honored for contributing to the well-being of children around Lima. After receiving the checks, a representative from each agency spoke to the club about their work and how the donation will be used. The Kiwanis Club says that it's important for them to support those who help children in our community.

Ten area programs that provide assistance to area children get a boost with a donation from the Exchange Club. The assistance provided by these agencies ranges from mentoring to positive life choices and sports to a new pair of shoes. Donations like this help to continue their mission with the children.

Mericle goes on to add, “We’re going to be teaching them lessons that will get them to make safe and responsible decisions to carry out throughout their life. Decisions that can help them in situations with drugs and alcohol, peer pressure and stress. Just to get them that positive outcome instead of making a negative one.”

The 24th Annual DARE Golf Outing was another huge success this year thanks to all of the great support from the Van Wert Community. There were 27 teams that golfed this year and the winning team consisted of Will Sharpe, Evan Scarlett, Tim Hurst, and Colton Lautzenheiser. They shot a winning score of 62. Officer Blackmore stated that the support from the businesses and families in our community in sponsoring holes for the tournament helped raise funds for the youth of Van Wert City and County.

Delphos St. John's students celebrated their graduation from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education or D.A.R.E. Program.

Citizens of Van Wert enjoyed a pancake breakfast Saturday morning, but being able to help out Van Wert's D.A.R.E. program was the sweetest part of the event.