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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contacts: Jennifer de Vallance (202) 395–6618
ArvinMeritor Contact: Laura Bochenek Powell
(248) 435–1587
April 7, 2003
ArvinMeritor Teams with White House Drug Policy Office to Steer Kids Away From Drugs
-- Company Promotes Parent-Child Communication as Key to Drug-Free Youth --
(Washington, D.C.) —The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced today that automotive supplier ArvinMeritor, Inc. is the most recent company to partner with ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The Michigan-based global corporation joins a growing number of companies that recognize the value in promoting youth drug prevention to customers and employees nationwide.
Studies show that parents are the single biggest influence on their children when it comes to drugs, and ArvinMeritor is taking steps to educate the company's parents and their customers on the importance of family communication. The company is supplying its employees with the Media Campaign's youth drug prevention resources, displaying anti-drug posters in English and Spanish in its facilities, and encouraging employees and customers to seek information online by linking to the Media Campaign's award-winning Web site for parents, www.TheAntiDrug.com, from its company intranet and corporate Web site.
"Communicating with parents about the importance of youth drug prevention is a top priority of the Media Campaign, and reaching them where they work and spend much of their time makes good sense," said ONDCP Director John P. Walters. "ArvinMeritor is setting a terrific example for companies across the country by making anti-drug information and resources readily available to its employees and its customers."
The partnership with ArvinMeritor is part of a larger Media Campaign effort to enlist corporate America in youth drug prevention. Businesses are encouraged to provide in-kind donations of goods and communications services, as well as financial contributions to underwrite advertising, programs and materials. Through collaboration with business, the Campaign will reach more youth and parents with anti-drug messages and information in more places, more often, and more persuasively.
"ArvinMeritor recognizes the importance of keeping the nation's youth drug-free and we are proud to partner with ONDCP and provide valuable information to our employees," said ArvinMeritor Chairman and CEO Larry Yost. "By providing these resources to parents and other concerned adults, we will help educate children in making drug-free choices in their lives."
ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets. In addition, ArvinMeritor is a leader in coil coating applications. The company is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and employs 32,000 people at more than 150 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries. For more information, visit the company's Web site at: www.arvinmeritor.com.
In 1998, with the bipartisan support of Congress and the President, ONDCP created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, an effort designed to educate and empower youth to reject illicit drugs. Counting on an unprecedented blend of public and private partnerships, non-profit community service organizations, volunteerism, and youth-to-youth communications, the Media Campaign is designed to reach Americans of diverse backgrounds. For more information on the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign visit www.mediacampaign.org, www.freevibe.com or www.theantidrug.com.
