Operation UNITE is one of hundreds of nonprofit organizations across Kentucky participating in the third annual Kentucky Gives online fundraising event on Tuesday, December 1.

UNITE’s focus for this year’s Kentucky Gives event is to raise funds for youth prevention and education initiatives – specifically Camp UNITE, school anti-drug UNITE Clubs, and the “On The Move!” mobile education classroom.

“These UNITE initiatives are making a significant impact on youth perceptions and knowledge about substance abuse,” said Nancy Hale, president/CEO of Operation UNITE. “Our region has lost too many people to drug overdoses. It is imperative to change attitudes and behaviors at an early age, and to give our youth the knowledge and skills they need for success as adults.”

This global day of philanthropy is also known as #GivingTuesday and “showcases the collective power of philanthropy,” according to the Kentucky Nonprofit Network.

Beginning at midnight on Tuesday, December 1, and continuing until 11:59 p.m., Kentuckians – regardless of where they currently reside – can go online to kygives.org, connect with causes such as Operation UNITE, and make tax-deductible donations.

To make a donation to Operation UNITE on #GivingTuesday please visit their Kentucky Gives profile page at: https://givingtuesday.razoo.com/story/Operation-Unite.

All online donations for Operation UNITE made on Kentucky Gives day are 100 percent tax-deductible and will support the following youth initiatives:

Camp UNITE

The 10th annual Camp UNITE is a free four-day, three-night program leadership/adventure program for youth in the Fifth Congressional District who will be entering grades 7-9 during the 2016-17 school year. Camp is held at the University of the Cumberlands at the end of July.

Camp UNITE is comprised of many fun, action-packed activities designed to develop leadership and communication skills, promote teamwork and problem solving, instill confidence and trust, and – perhaps most important – let youth know they do not have to face difficult situations alone.

“More than 200 youth attend Camp UNITE each summer,” Hale noted. “It takes approximately $275 to send one youth to camp for the week, so the costs add up pretty quickly.”

Since 2007 there have been 1,723 middle school-aged youth participants from 32 counties. Each camp also utilizes more than 100 older youth and community volunteers.

UNITE Clubs

UNITE Clubs, established during the 2005-06 school year, increase a student’s ability to resist substance abuse by providing positive role models for other students, building self-esteem, engaging in healthy lifestyles, striving for high student achievement, and creating positive relationships.

During the 2014-15 school year there were 88 registered UNITE Clubs in 25 counties with a total of 7,298 student members. Each club is eligible to apply for $750 to conduct drug awareness and education programs. Registrations for the current term are still being accepted.

“UNITE Clubs raise awareness about the dangers posed by substance abuse not only in their schools, but throughout their communities,” said Debbie Trusty, UNITE Education Director. “Core components of a UNITE Club include performing community service projects and a provide peer-mentoring to younger students.”

On The Move!

On The Move! is a one-of-a-kind initiative in partnership with Appalachian HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) and the Kentucky Army National Guard targeting students in 7th and 10th grades.

Utilizing five interactive components related to distracted and impaired driving, this mobile classroom is offered free to schools and provides real-time data collection in line with Kentucky’s Core Content areas of practical living and health.

“Students leave these real-life simulations with a heightened awareness about the dangers of impairment from alcohol or drugs,” said Tom Vicini, deputy director for UNITE. “It gets the students thinking about the importance of making good choices so they don’t have to endure the tragic consequences of substance abuse.”

Launched in the fall of 2013, there have been 6,125 students from 72 schools in 18 counties complete the entire program through the end of the 2014-15 school year.

“Making donations to your favorite causes at kygives.org on December 1 is an excellent way for each of us to support the nonprofits serving you, me and our communities,” said Danielle Clore, executive director/CEO of Kentucky Nonprofit Network.

“Kentuckians, near and far, have an opportunity to demonstrate their generosity after Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping,” Clore said. “Kentucky Gives on #GivingTuesday is time to see how generous Kentucky can be in just 24 hours.”

Organized by the Kentucky Nonprofit Network, Kentucky Gives is presented by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky and Anthem Medicaid. #GivingTuesday was founded in 2012.

LONDON – Operation UNITE has extended the deadline for seniors to apply for “I Am UNITE” scholarships to Friday, April 8.

“The initial deadline was March 31, but with the number of school closings due to weather and sickness we wanted to make sure students had an opportunity to submit an application,” explained Debbie L. Trusty, UNITE’s Education and Treatment Director.

Application forms are available on the UNITE website at operationunite.org.

Created by the UNITE Foundation, these “I Am UNITE” scholarships provide high school seniors $1,500 to be used for post-secondary education expenses. Funding for these scholarships come from proceeds of the annual National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, hosted by Operation UNITE in Atlanta, Ga.

Preference is given to seniors that have been a member of their school’s UNITE Club or have attended Camp UNITE as either a youth team leader or camper. If an applicant has not had the opportunity to be involved in UNITE programming, consideration is given to seniors who have provided strong community volunteer service.

Eligible applicants must live within UNITE’s 32-county service region.

In the past three years the UNITE Foundation has awarded 66 scholarships.

Additional information is available on the UNITE website. Interested applicants may also contact Shawna Ping at 606-677-6179 or by email to sping@centertech.com or Debbie Trusty at 606-889-0422 or by email to dtrusty@centertech.com.

Five free regional Shoot Hoops Not Drugs basketball camps conducted by former University of Kentucky all-star Jeff Sheppard will be conducted June 14 through June 23.

All school-age youth are invited to participate in any of the camps, hosted by Operation UNITE, at the following dates and locations:
Week 1
• Tuesday, June 14, at Martin (Warfield) Middle School in Warfield.
• Thursday, June 16, at Owsley County High School in Booneville.
Week 2
• Monday, June 20, at Morgan County High School in West Liberty.
• Tuesday, June 21, at the Rodney C. Woods Gym at the Wayne County Schools Campus in Monticello.
• Thursday, June 23, at the Knott County Sportsplex in Leburn.

Each camp begins at 4 p.m. and concludes about 7 p.m. Participants are asked to arrive 30 minutes early for registration. (There is no advance registration.)

Four-time All-SEC Academic Team member Jarrod Polson will join fellow UK alum Jeff Sheppard as a camp instructor for the three Week 2 camps.

Shoot Hoops Not Drugs camps provide basketball skills instruction in conjunction with anti-drug and self-esteem messages.

For safety and comfort while participating, youth are asked not to wear open-toe shoes or sandals.

All participants will receive a free event T-shirt, regulation-sized signature basketball, food and water, and be entered into a drawing for two portable basketball goals given away at the conclusion of each camp (you must be present to win).

Presented by Ameritox, Shoot Hoops Not Drugs camps are fun, interactive, and provide a safe, drug-free activity where children have an opportunity to interact with positive role models while learning fundamental basketball skills.

In addition, parents and guardians will have an opportunity to attend a brief UNITE Foundation-sponsored education program on heroin and other opiates. Information on the signs, symptoms and dangers posed by prescription drugs will also be provided.

As a senior at the University of Kentucky, Sheppard was named the NCAA’s Final Four Most Valuable Player in the Wildcats’ 1997-98 National Championship season. He would later go on to play one season with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and 3 years in Italy.

Polson, a point-guard from Wilmore, Kentucky, went from walk-on to scholarship athlete before his freshman year at UK even began. Over his four years, Polson played in 94 games scoring a total of 140 points with a .424 field goal percentage (.313 three-point percentage).

Since 2006, UNITE has conducted 61 regional basketball camps with 8,295 youth participants representing 56 Kentucky counties, 20 other states and two other countries. More than 1,524 parents/caregivers have attended the educational programs.

Helping make the 2016 Shoot Hoops Not Drugs camps possible are:

GOLD Sponsor: Walmart of London

SILVER Sponsors: AmeriCorps-Kentucky, B&H Apothecary of Booneville, Appalachian Wireless of Ivel, Bank of the Mountains of West Liberty, Bluegrass Cellular of Monticello, Booneville Discount Drugs, Amy E. Brock DMD of Corbin, Commercial Bank of West Liberty, Defensive Action Against Drugs (DAAD) UNITE Coalition of Wayne County, Farmers State Bank of Booneville, Frederick & May Construction Company of West Liberty, Frederick & May Lumber Company of West Liberty, Hacker Brothers Inc. of London, JBK Inc. Roofing Division of Corbin, London Radio Service Inc., Minuteman Press of London, City of Monticello-Mayor Jeffrey Edwards, Owsley County Elementary School Family Resource Center, Owsley County High School Youth Services Center, Owens Inc. of Corbin, People’s Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC), Perry Oil Company of Hazard, Springwater Kartway of Monticello, Tri-County Cycle Sales of Corbin, Tri-County Wood Preserving of Corbin, C&P Quality Meats of London, Chad’s Hope Teen Challenge Center, Christian Appalachian Project, Cumberland Gap Mountain Spring Water of Middlesboro, Flowers Bakery of London, Kentucky Army National Guard, Robinson’s Premium Meats of London, WestCare Hal Rogers Appalachian Recovery Center, and Woodman Life of West Liberty.

BRONZE Sponsors: F&H Drug Inc. of Monticello, First Southern National Bank of Stanford, Jacobs Trade Center of Booneville, Kentucky Outdoorsman LLC of Corbin, Lee County Building Supply of Beattyville, Monticello Banking Company, Owsley County Clerk Shanna Oliver, Kenneth L. Ramsey State Farm Insurance of Monticello, and Silvers Hometown Pharmacy LLC of Monticello.

SUPPORTING Sponsors: Tom Blair Insurance Agency Inc. (State Farm) of Corbin, First National Bank of Grayson, and Levi Pawn & Gun of Booneville.

PIKEVILLE – Dr. Robert Califf, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), heard concerns and comments about the growing prescription opioid epidemic during a visit to southeastern Kentucky August 18, 2016.

“It’s obvious that this is a crushing epidemic … and you are in the epicenter,” Califf said during a stop at Pikeville Medical center as part of a multi-state listening tour.

Califf called the luncheon roundtable – where he learned about community response and recovery efforts from medical providers and UNITE coalition representatives – eye-opening. “The opioid crisis is real in our country. The pharmaceutical industry is the force behind it.”

Click here to view photos from the Roundtable.

Dr. William T. Fannin, a Pikeville physician who lost a son to an overdose and serves as Medical Director for Appalachian Hospice Care, asked Califf “to educate us better (and) give us medications that are safer to use.”

“Whenever we made pain the fifth vital sign is when we began to have problems,” Fannin said. “It was a horrible idea.”

Education was a common theme among participants.

Pikeville Medical Center Chief of Staff Dr. Jerry King said patients need to know more about pain management. “Doctors need educated on drugs and how we distribute them. Patients are going to have pain, we know that. But we need to monitor the amount of pain medicine they are getting.”

UNITE Board Member Cheryl Hickman, vice-president of Pikeville Medical Center, added that “education has to start in kindergarten. These kids have to understand the consequences” of taking drugs.

Several presenters praised the state’s mandating use of the KASPER (Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting) system, which tracks controlled-substance prescription.

Many participants urged greater use of abuse-deterrent medications and better control over drugs designed to help battle opioid dependence.

Former addict Chad Webb, one of the first UNITE Voucher program recipients who was recently pardoned by former Governor Steve Beshear, said he didn’t understand why drugs such as Suboxone are needed. “That’s not sobriety” to substitute one drug for another.

“It is hard to come off of Suboxone,” noted Glenda Shrum, Knott County Drug Court Coordinator and Chair of the Knott Drug Abuse Council. “Somebody has to educate these people as to how dangerous and addictive this is.”

Joel Thornberry, a Pikeville pharmacist and past-President of the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy, said the FDA should be able to require limits on the use of Suboxone.

“I am the one who put Chad (Webb) into jail,” commented Ron Burchett, a prosecuting attorney and member of the Pikeville Medical Center Board of Directors. “Suboxone is one of the most trafficked drugs on the street. Doctors are compassionate and want to help people, but sometimes they are naive.”

Participants in the roundtable discussion included:

• Nancy Hale, UNITE President/CEO
• Walter E. May, Pikeville Medical Center President/CEO
• Marionette Little, UNITE Service Corps Co-Director, Executive Board member of the UNITE Pike Coalition, and a career educator with the Pike County schools
• Chad Corum, a pharmacist who serves on the UNITE Board of Directors
• Cheryl Hickman, Pikeville Medical Center Vice-President and Assistant to the President/CEO
• Claudia Greenwood, Chair of the Knox County UNITE Coalition
• Glenda Shrum, Knott County Drug Court Coordinator and Chair of the Knott Drug Abuse Council
• Emily Waller, a UNITE Scholarship recipient whose family was impacted because of addiction
• Van Ingram, Dxecutive Director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy
• Dave Hopkins, who oversees the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) program within the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services/li>
• Dr. William T. Fannin, a Pikeville physician who lost a son to an overdose and serves as Medical Director for Appalachian Hospice Care
• Joel Thornberry, a Pikeville pharmacist and past-President of the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy
• Chad Webb, one of the first UNITE Voucher program recipients who was recently pardoned by former Governor Steve Beshear
• Rodney Scott, Pike County Sheriff and former Jailer who oversaw WestCare Kentucky’s jail drug treatment programs
• Dr. WIlliam T. Betz, Chair of the Pikeville Osteopathic Medical School.
• Russell Roberts, Pike County Coroner
• Tom Salyer, Johnson County Schools Superintendent
• Dr. David Weber, Pikeville Medical Center Pain Management Specialist
• Dr. Jerry King, Pikeville Medical Center Chief of Staff
• Dr. Aaron Crum, Pikeville Medical Center Chief Medical Officer
• Ron Burchett, a prosecuting attorney and member of the Pikeville Medical Center Board of Directors