TEARS is starting a homeless and runaway shelter for girls in Macon County.
As a fundraiser, we hosted the Crimson Pipers, the Tuskegee University marching band, for lunch before the Classic on October 8th. TEARS would like to thank the following for their donations and/or contributions: 4th Street Baptist Church and staff, 13th Street BBQ, Central High School culinary students, Chick Fil A, Ed's Corner Cue and Barbecue, Hog Rock BBQ, Mike and Ed's Barbecue, Piggly Wiggly, Phenix Foods, Publix, and TEARS board members. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Crimson Pipers for allowing us to serve them. And finally, to all who volunteered the day of the event, we greatly appreciate the sacrifice of your time to make the event a success!
Second Hand Smoke Can Kill
Everyday in the United States, approximately 4,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years smoke their first cigarette, and an estimated 1,140 young people become daily smokers. Consequently, 90% of new smokers are children and teens which 289,000 children in Alabama alone are exposed to secondhand smoke at home. This is a picture drawn by sixth grader, Kaitlynn EnFinger at Ladonia Elementary School of Phenix City, Alabama. She is one of the many children who are crying out to people to please stop smoking because it not only affects the person smoking but the next person inhaling the unfiltered carcinogens as well. Take action and help make Alabama breathe clean indoor air. For more information or facts on tobacco please visit our website at www.tobaccofreealabama.org.
TEARS, Inc. Establishes Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
Teens Empowerment Awareness with ResolutionS (TEARS) Inc. held a Community Awareness Meet & Greet on Monday, November 30, 2010 at 6:00 pm EST to announce our new service called Pairs of Progress (P.O.P). TEARS will implement the program in Lee, Macon, and Russell counties in Alabama to provide community-based one-on-one mentoring relationships to youth ages 4 to 18 with incarcerated influential relatives. For more information, or if you would like to become a mentor, please contact TEARS at (334) 291-6363 Monday-Thursday 10:00-6:30 pm, est.
TEARS 2010 Summer Excursion
TEARS Inc. and it staff recently celebrated the commencement of its Summer Program with a Summer Excursion; a banquet-style forum in which the 2010 summer program attendees got a chance to show off their talents. Some of the attendees danced, others sang, and some even recited poems of what TEARS meant to them". Its rewarding to see young people do positive things " says Grimes, a new employee of the agency, "and even go on to influence others to do the right thing as well. "Not only did these young people display their talents but they also got a chance to have an open discussion about teen issues and sex. The parents of the summer program attendees also participated in this banquet and forum and even recorded their own CD-single to encourage the youth to wait until marriage before having sex. The 2010 Summer Excursion served more than 100 students, not including the summer program attendees, as well as 40 parents.