Drug awareness programs are feeling the pinch in schools everywhere as budget cuts reduce funding. And some educators say recent negative publicity about DARE programs may cause even lower funding in the future.

But area schools are refusing to allow the cuts to stop their participation in events like Red Ribbon Week.

These schools are relying on their own budgets and community support to pick up where government funding stops to make sure the message against drugs gets out.

"The people in our community really get involved and show their support," said Julia Reynolds, one of the coordinators for Red Ribbon Week in Sikeston. "Each school has a school and community activity which really gets the local organizations and businesses involved."

Reynolds said Sikeston schools don't feel the budget cuts with these types of programs, because much of what they use is donated.

The schools also get a lot of support from the local Elks club, she said, which has approximately 1,700 students signed up for its own drug program in the schools.

Other schools are feeling the budget cuts, however, and they said they look for other ways to keep drug awareness programs alive.

Mary Barron, Safe and Drug-Free program coordinator for Scott County Central, said her school schedules programs with Oran schools to share costs.

"It's really a good socialization experience," she said. "It's good to have the schools join together for something more than basketball games."

St. Joseph School, a parochial school in Scott City, works with the local public school to schedule programming. "The money we actually would get from public schools is not enough to even get a speaker," said Darlene Leonard, principal. Leonard said her school opts to leave the money in the public school's budget so that the money can be used to develop programming that they can share.

Sometimes, however, schools find that sharing expenses or community support are not options. These schools continue to provide programming because they look inward for resources.

"We mainly do activities that don't cost money," said Tracy Holland, principal of Immaculate Conception in Cape Girardeau. "The only thing that has cost us money this year was the red ribbon, which cost about four dollars."

Second-grade teacher Becky Hicks said the teachers at May Greene Elementary in Cape Girardeau took on the responsibility of programming. "Last year we had a coordinator in the district to assist us," she said. "But this year we don't have that resource available to us."

Hicks said the teachers are decorating doors and creating a large banner for the hall to inform their students about the dangers of drugs.