CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
Last year, the Palmer Drug Abuse Program helped more than 2,000 teens and young adults kick the habit of drugs and alcohol. They hope to continue to help even more in the coming year.
"We receive no state or federal funding, so we rely on the public to help us out," said Wade Fjeld, executive director of PDAP.
That is why their fundraising efforts will continue through the end of the year.
PDAP executives said that, on average, 300 to 400 people walk through their doors every month, wanting to get help for themselves or someone they love. This year, PDAP is getting some help from County Judge Loyd Neal, who was named the Community Chair for this year's fundraising event.
His involvement with the organization goes back to the very beginning.
"Our son was a senior in high school in 1980, at Carroll, and he came to me and said, 'Dad, I don't have a problem,' but he said, 'We've got some problems and there's an organization that we're talking about. Would you go?' He was an athlete and he was doing a lot of things. He was president of the student council at Carroll, and I said, 'Yeah, your mother and I will go," Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal said. "So we went to the first organizational meeting and I thought that it was great that young people recognized that we need some help. So from that point forward, we've been involved in one way or another with PDAP."
The program, which has been around for more than 30 years, has offices in Kingsville, Alice and Corpus Christi.
"Everyday, a young person from some family comes to PDAP, and they are sort of at their wits end," Neal said. "And this is the way that this community can help these young people, without any affect on the taxes, or any other governmental money. This is just a great service and I hope that we can support it."
If you would like to help out the Palmer Drug Abuse Program with a donation, check out their Website at www.pdapcc.org.
