Fund-raiser a life-changer

RIVERTON — There will be no head-shavings, pig-kissings or worm-eatings if Riverton High School students rake in big bucks for charity this holiday season.

Just changed lives.

Riverton High has adopted Odyssey House, a nonprofit treatment facility for drug and alcohol addiction, emotional problems and anti-social behavior, as the recipient of its annual "Silver Rush" fund-raiser. As of Thursday, students had raised more than $10,000 with two weeks left in the project.

It's the second consecutive year student government leaders have taken on a social issue to raise awareness and understanding as they hit up the community for cash.

Last year's efforts netted some $55,000 for a local domestic violence shelter.

"It changes you," said Lacey Aston, student body historian, "your perspective; your mind-set."

And that, say Odyssey House officials, is their hope. The facility traditionally places its focus on patient services, not community outreach and education, but development director Kim DeMille said the chance to touch so many teens was too good to pass up.

"It's as much about an educational opportunity for the kids at Riverton High as it is for fund-raising," DeMille said. "Exposing them to the real dangers of substance abuse. It's not a path that's going to take you to any productive life."

Student government leaders researched about a dozen causes to take on this year. Odyssey House, which serves clients as young as 13, seemed an obvious choice.

The school has lost a couple of students to suicide and a drug overdose in the past year, student president Quin Campbell said. Students' research found drugs and alcohol abuse were linked to 70 percent of teen suicides. A survey last spring showed drugs and alcohol were Riverton students' No. 1 concern.

And rightly so, said Chuck Nuttall, director of adolescent services at Odyssey House. The in-patient program has served at least one Riverton High student in the recent past, proving that the problems of drug abuse hit even closer than many people realize.

"I think that that just brings the point home," Nuttall said. "You're thinking that it's not in your back yard, but it is."

Student leaders say Odyssey House saves lives that have somehow taken a wrong turn. They say residents there learn how to address not only the physical addictions but the psychological ones, too.

"A lot of them said it just changed their lives," Campbell said.