Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.
Photo courtesy of San Benito County Behavioral Health.

Information provided by the San Benito County Behavioral Health Department

 

On October 23, 2021, San Benito County Behavioral Health celebrated its 33rd Annual Red Ribbon Festival. The festival marked the beginning of Red Ribbon week which was held on October 23-31.

Red Ribbon week was established in 1985 after the unfortunate death of a DEA agent by the name of Enrique “Kiki” Camerena. In honor of Mr. Camerena and his fight against the criminal underworld, his friends and family began to wear red satin badges.

Now Red Ribbon serves to educate our youth and encourage them to do drug prevention activities in honor of the fallen hero. This year’s festival was a reminder of not only how dangerous criminals and drugs are, but also to show that we as a community can have fun without the use of substances and/or criminality.

In partnership with the City of Hollister, a 5K competitive run was created as the starting point for this amazing festival that involved many activities and showcased the ability of a strong community wanting what’s best for our future.

Part of these events included the ROTC Color Guard of Soledad, whom did a great job singing the national anthem, BMX freestylers bike riders who amazing and included the audience in their tricks, and lastly a wonderful group of adolescent Ballet Folklorioco dancers who danced a real traditional Mexican folk dance from the tri-county area. The festival ended with a keynote speaker, by the name of Javier Cervantes, who shared his story of trails, tribulations, struggles, and ultimately his success that he gives to sobriety/recovery.

This year’s theme “Drug Free Looks like Me” was demonstrated with the many art posters that were submitted by the students at San Benito County local schools. The San Benito County Art Council judged the art posters and picked a winner in each category: Kindergarten-2nd Grade; 3rd Grade-5th grade; 6th grade-8th grade; and 9th-12th grade.

San Benito County Behavioral Health would like to thank all the local agencies, volunteers, and local businesses for their donations:

Sun Street Centers, Bright Future Recovery, Community Solutions, SBC Office of Education, SBC Family Resource Approval Program, SBC Veteran’s Services, SBC Free Library, San Benito Opioid Task Force, Community Food Bank of San Benito, San Benito County Tobacco Education, Family Impact Center, First 5 of San Benito, Valley Health Associates, Youth Alliance, Sheriff’s Department, LGTBQ Resource Center, La Catrina Restaurant, Heavenly Bakery, Premier Cinema’s, La Michoacana Paleteria Y Nieveria, Target, Margot’s Ice Cream Parlor, Andy’s All About Fruit, Hollister Super, Salad Works, Swank Farms, Poki Bowl, Mountain Mikes, Hokulia Shaved Ice, Dona Esther’s, Kamal Yoga Studios, Antolia’s Stone Jewelry, Mrs. B’s Z Place, Jan’s Top Rock Shop, Utopio, The Sarabia Family, Mmm Churros, Ivan’s Baked Potato, Hollister Safeway, Hollister Lucky’s, Gilroy Lucky’s Bakery Department

For information on substance use disorder treatment or behavioral health treatment, contact our office at 1131 Community Parkway, Hollister, CA 95023 or call (831) 636-4020.