Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth hosts its Strategic Planning and Re-Launch Meeting

After a changeover in personnel and the hiring of new staff, the Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth (MCDFY) launched its strategic planning meeting on Friday, November 8, 2024. This meeting was held at the Maui Beach Hotel with over 20 partners from around the community attending the event.

The objective of the meeting was to gather MCDFY coalition members in person to regroup and strategize on ways forward. As it had been months since the last coalition meeting, the first step was to provide a summary of the previous year relating to the coalition’s status and policies. The coalition was also able to meet and connect with the new MCDFY Community Coordinator, Melissa Magonigle. In addition, the group discussed and strategized ways to build support to lower the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit while driving to 0.05 and to conduct a community assessment that will help the coalition identify its next local prevention policy campaign. Lastly, it was to brainstorm ways to engage youth and listen to community voices.

The coalition participated in group activities to discuss alcohol-related issues and to collaborate on gathering information on where youth are obtaining alcohol, where they are drinking, what they are drinking, and the consequences associated with use. The second group activity focused on data collection and developing an outreach plan to identify others from a grassroots perspective that should be reached out to and of any grassroots organizations, including any geographic regions that still need to be covered.

The meeting was filled with enthusiasm, collaboration, participation, and a strong desire to continue to work together to come up with solutions to protect our keiki from the dangers and effects of alcohol. To get involved with the Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth, please contact Melissa Magonigle at melissa@hiphi.org.