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Once upon a time, a community of administrators, parents, law enforcement personnel, teachers and community members came together, grieving from the loss of 4 high school students in an alcohol-related car wreck.   People were alarmed at the amount of underage drinking occurring in the community, and were ready to take action, by incorporating Flathead CARE into a nonprofit organization to battle underage drinking.  Flathead CARE was incorporated in 1983, as the only youth drug, alcohol and tobacco non-profit prevention organization in Montana that contracted with area schools to partner in providing these services to students. 

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Flathead CARE was founded in partnership with the Safe & Drug Free School Consortium (originally including 27 Flathead County Schools) agreeing to help fund a prevention program for school kids.  This system made Flathead CARE resilient for over twenty years.

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Fast forward to 2017, where funding sources, budgets and funding have changed dramatically.  Flathead CARE’s work has continued to focus on children and youth, by supporting families and schools, for more than 30 years, but without the federal, state and local funding.

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The “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2002 drastically affected the education system and funding of Safe and Drug Free Schools programs specifically creating an environment of change.   Flathead CARE began to feel the financial effects that brought about a restructuring of federal Title funding available to local schools who are members of the Safe & Drug Free School Consortium.  This new legislation made it possible for schools to transfer these funds into Title I for the hiring of tutors, and later for school resource officers.   As a result, all of the 27 consortium eventually members withdrew their drug prevention funds, leaving a huge hold in our budget.

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The Safe & Drug Free School money funded our entire STAND youth program (now called Affinity) at KMS and both high schools, Red Ribbon Week school visits, media campaigns, a teen leadership retreat, the production and mailing of the “Parents Who CARE” newsletter, and school support groups for teens. 

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In addition, a state competitive prevention grant, tobacco education grants awarded from the state and from the Flathead City County Health Department, and a partnership with a local coalition on drug prevention services and activities that had been in place for many years for Flathead CARE, was discontinued.  Our United Way funding has also been drastically reduced over the years.  These cuts have resulted in the loss of another $70,000 annually.  Due to reduced campaign pledges, the local United Way did not fund Flathead CARE at all from July 2016 – July 2017, cutting almost $10,000 out of our already meager annual budget.

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School District # 5 continues to provide office space, telephone/fax lines and computer services, but does not contribute any funding at this time.  We are very grateful to the school district.

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Flathead CARE has had to find new avenues for funding support and modify its services in order to further its mission for students, schools and the community.  We began fundraising events, such as the fall concert series, the Glacier Rally in the Rockies classic car show, and a Cinco de Mayo party, to keep our programs alive.

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We are best known for the annual Red Ribbon Week Campaign (http://nfp.org/rr/) each October, Kids Camp & dances for middle school students, as well as our Affinity Club programs at KMS, FHS & GHS.  Flathead CARE is the ONLY prevention organization in our area that works directly with youth, parents and community in reducing drug, alcohol and tobacco use.  Now with prescription drug abuse at epidemic levels, we have even more work to do.

School and community-based addiction programs can help children, teens and adolescents resist social pressures to engage in substance use; strengthen self-esteem; improve decision-making and communication skills; and manage stress and anxiety.  In Montana, risky substance use and addiction count for 14.9% of our state budget.  Of that amount, 3 cents of every dollar goes to prevention and treatment while 84 cents of every dollar goes to pay for the consequences of our failure to prevent and treat risky substance use and addiction (https://www.centeronaddiction.org/addiction/state-spending-addiction-risk-use).

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Since the early 2000’s, Flathead CARE’s annual budgets have dropped from a high of $167,000, to today’s budget, which is approximately $80,000.  The organization has changed from a full-time director, a youth coordinator, a program coordinator, a bookkeeper and an army of parent volunteers, to just one full-time employee.  Our volunteers donate more than 6,000 hours to our organization, and we could not do all that we do without them.  We serve 10,235 participants on an annual basis, and our volunteers donate almost 4,500 hours.

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We continue to partner with other community organizations and groups through special grant contracts and sponsorship opportunities. These partnerships are making it possible for us to continue our prevention efforts. In addition to receiving United Way funding (for which we are extremely grateful), we currently work with the Flathead City/County Health Department, Flathead Valley Chemical Dependency Clinic (through the STOP Coalition), Safe Kids/Safe Communities Coalition, the Coalition for a Healthy Flathead and Kalispell Public Schools.  Flathead CARE also continues to seek additional grant opportunities and has been successful with local and regional funders who support prevention efforts such as our own.

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Over the years, we have adapted, and we are sure that you have noticed some of the changes.  We’ve eliminated printed materials; we’ve cut some programs in outlying schools, and tightened up our belt everywhere possible.  Yet, we remain committed to helping youth remain drug, alcohol and tobacco free.

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Now we have reached a point where we cannot operate on that shoestring budget, and we need your help.  You can help us ensure that drug, alcohol and tobacco prevention programs remain for teens in our community.  If you think that it is important for our youth to have drug and alcohol free events like dances and after school programs, please consider a donation to our organization.  We will continue to provide education, empowerment and leadership opportunities, as long as the community is willing to support us!  You can donate using our “Donate” button on our website, or by mailing your tax deductible contribution to us at: 

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Flathead CARE

P.O. Box 1422

Kalispell, MT 59903