Center offers sober St. Patrick's party

No alcohol allowed. Recovery Revolution to provide fun and education about addiction.

For Jana Morris, St. Patrick's Day is about food and family, tradition and celebrations. But there's one element noticeably missing from her planned celebration: beer or alcohol of any kind.

As the president of Recovery Revolution Inc., a nonprofit drug and alcohol outpatient treatment center, Morris said she knows how difficult it can be to keep alcohol out of the party. On Saturday, she hopes to provide an alternative for anyone in the area looking for a break from the typical brew fest.

"It seems like the norm is for everyone to go out and get trashed," Morris said. "The staff here thought it was the perfect time to do a fundraiser, but also bring awareness to the disease of addiction."

Starting at noon, the center will host 11 speakers who will talk about addiction, some from the point of view of being a reformed drug and alcohol abuser and others from the perspective of living and coping with a loved one's addiction.

Morris said the center is not publishing the list of speakers because many are involved in anonymous treatment programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Al-Anon, a program for family members and friends of people dealing with addiction.

"They'll be talking every hour on the hour," she said. "We want to educate the community, but we also want people to enjoy themselves, so we're having raffles and food throughout the day."

Prizes include U.S. savings bonds, gift baskets, recovery books, gift certificates, luggage, tool kits and Dorney Park Water Park day passes. All prizes were donated by local businesses.

"Everything's free and completely open to the public," Morris said. "We want people to come out, have fun, and learn some new information about addiction."

NJ com