| Red Ribbon Dates |
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The Red Ribbon Coalition receives many inquiries regarding the Red Ribbon Dates. Below is background information regarding this issue to help you decide when your school and/or community will celebrate the Red Ribbon Week. When the National Red Ribbon Week began in 1988, the Red Ribbon Dates were observed the last full week of October, encompassing two weekends. This format has two benefits. First, schools Red Ribbon Week activities are spread over one week, from Monday to Friday. Second, it emphasizes the role athletics/sports and faith based organizations play in prevention. Early organizers of Red Ribbon hoped that these groups would take advantage of the two weekends by hosting Red Ribbon Celebration themed activities or events. In the mid-1990's, some organizations opted to change the Red Ribbon Dates to a standardized October 23rd to 31st. The benefit for this format was that collateral materials produced and sold for Red Ribbon Week could be used year after year. We prefer (and have always followed) the Red Ribbon Dates established when the campaign first began. For us, it just makes more sense! We favor a Monday through Friday format because it just works better for our schools. We also like the concept of including athletic and faith based organizations in the campaign over the two weekends! We encourage YOU to consider both options and decide what works best for your school or community. If you are at a year round school you may need to choose an entirely different week. Just be sure to host Red Ribbon Week in the fall as your school or community kick off to a year of prevention.
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