POP Celebrates Nonprofit Status

PUTNAM COUNTY -- An organization that was founded more than five years ago to help curb underage drinking and drug use in Putnam County has reached another important milestone. Power of Putnam, a community coalition, formally celebrated its 501(c)3 status during a quarterly meeting held with several community members yesterday afternoon.

The months-long process for the group means several things, but the nonprofit designation will help open the door for new revenue sources, which will help the coalition to continue to spread its message to local youth. "We're really excited," said coalition coordinator Kristi Allen. "The 501(c)3 status will open up doors for us to accept more donations, it will bring more grant money into the community and will provide the county with more prevention programs."

Putnam County Executive Kim Blaylock kicked off the meeting, congratulating the group for all its hard work. "I encourage you to keep up the good work you're doing, it's a very worthy (cause)," she said. Power of Putnam, over the years, has worked to bring mock trails dealing with topics such as underage drinking to local high schools, it helps support Red Ribbon Week, an annual drug prevention awareness campaign, and the group is currently working with the Cookeville city beer board to draft an ordinance that would mandate responsible vendor training for store clerks and more.

Power of Putnam has already received several grants, and most recently received $390,000 from the state's Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services. The grant will allocate a minimum of $78,000 a year to the coalition for five years. Allen said yesterday that the grant should become available by the first of the year.

A state-needs assessment for Tennessee helped the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services select the prevalence of binge drinking in Tennessee's 14-25 age population as its priority concern. Based on that proposal, Power of Putnam will attempt to reduce binge drinking among that group and to achieve a corresponding decline in alcohol related consequences, such as alcohol related vehicle fatalities, alcohol related arrests and driving under the influence arrests as a result of its work.