Staff Report
IMPACT, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, promotes healthy living and relationships through its Teen IMPACT program. It gets students to commit to being drug-free, alcohol-free, and tobacco-free, while practicing abstinence.
According to Executive Director Angie Kagey, “The essence [of IMPACT] is to continue to provide students with education on healthy choices and relationship education throughout our community.”
IMPACT has a three-prong approach. Besides the classroom education and teen IMPACT, there is also Parent Power, where parents learn how to have conversations with their teens about how to avoid high risk behavior. The program provides additional support to help parents feel more qualified to talk to their teens.
IMPACT’s Classroom Education program sends trained speakers into the schools to educate teens on the importance of sexual risk avoidance, while also teaching them refusal skills, and encouraging students to set boundaries in their dating relationships. Lecturers discuss the benefits of abstinence.
It has a partnership with the Hillsborough County School district and has a presence in almost all the main high schools in Hillsborough County. For over 15 years, IMPACT has reached about 10,000 students each year, teaching them how to avoid high-risk behaviors.
In the summer a program called Summer Staff is offered. High school students are recruited and trained to provide skit-based presentations, highlighting the healthy choice lifestyle that they have learned through IMPACT at area Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, recreation centers, and church youth groups. In order to participate, students need to apply, audition, and pass an interview.
IMPACT’s annual dinner is a celebration of IMPACT and its main fundraiser. The semi-formal dinner takes place this year on Thursday, September 22 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at The Regent, located at 6437 Watson Rd. in Riverview. Doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner starts at 6:45 p.m. There is no cost to attend the event and reservations can be made at www.whatisimpact.com.
There are also opportunities for both individuals and businesses to host or sponsor a table. Call 264-9368 for more information.
