Young Harris College Receives $5,000 Grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety

Young Harris College recently received a $5,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to participate in the Georgia Young Adult Program (GYAP). This funding will allow YHC’s Division of Student Development to utilize strategies aimed towards raising awareness regarding underage drinking, low-risk alcohol use, abuse prevention and impaired driving as related to highway safety.

“GOHS is committed to changing the tragic trend of young adult driver deaths in Georgia,” said GOHS Director Harris Blackwood. “We’re here to make changes, and I believe the students at YHC can help us achieve the goal of lowering driver, crash, injury and fatality rates statewide. Who better to address the challenges and dangers facing young adults than their peers? I’m confident these students can convince their peers to be safer, more conscientious drivers.”

The mission of the GYAP is to promote education and awareness to young adults about highway safety issues in order to decrease crashes, injuries, and fatalities in young adult drivers. The Young Adult Program for colleges and universities in the state of Georgia focuses on alcohol education, alcohol abuse prevention, impaired driving, underage drinking, safety belts, speeding, risk reductions, and other destructive decisions.

YHC’s C.L.A.W. (Campus Leaders Advocating Wellness) continues to work with the GOHS to help decrease the number of accidents involving alcohol. This student-peer educator group is dedicated to sharing information about health-related topics in order to help students make educated decisions.

“C.L.A.W. uses this grant money to help promote awareness on the YHC campus and provide speakers and events that are fun as well as educational and interactive,” said C.L.A.W. advisor and Residence Life Coordinator Amanda Voegel. “We would love to see this not be an issue any longer, but until that day, we will continue to raise awareness and do our part to help.”

The GOHS educates the public on traffic safety and facilitates the implementation of programs that reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities on Georgia roadways. For more information, visit gahighwaysafety.org.