With substance abuse starting in teens as early as 6th grade, the United Way of Porter County’s Power of Youth Council decided to step outside the schools and gather the community in a Battle Against Drugs.
The United Way of Porter County’s Power of Youth Battle of the Bands, will be held on February 20, 2010 from 4pm to 10 pm at the Valparaiso University Athletic Recreation Center. 
What started out as a fun band competition created by The United Way of Porter County’s Power of Youth Council to raise funds for teen substance abuse prevention and early treatment, quickly turned into a county endeavor.
Companies such as Livemercial, created the Public Service Announcement, which can be viewed at … and are building the Power of Youth website with the students. They saw the potential to reach thousands of youth with a very timely, relevant and powerful message. “Having teenagers myself, I understand the pressures and challenges our youth face in this rapidly changing world. They are our leaders of tomorrow and need proper nurturing, love, and care. Our ability to act now and translate this will give them ultimate advantage in the future,” said Johnny Mathis, Jr. CEO of Livemercial.
Others began calling and asking what they can offer or how they could become involved. “The Porter County Substance Abuse Council is happy to be involved with the Power or Youth; great group of young people doing and bringing to Porter County drug free activities for the youth,” stated Sharon Cawood of the Porter County Substance Abuse Council.
With prizes, such as 8 hours of recording time at Willowtree Recording Studio in Kouts, IN., the bands quickly began submitting their videos for consideration. Colton Dreckman of the band Skyline Savior posted on the Power of Youth Facebook fan page about the chance to win the recording time; “…we have no means of recording so we are really excited to try and get this; but we just love playing anyways.”
This year’s goal for the Power of Youth students began with the intention of raising awareness of teen substance abuse issues and raising funds for local nonprofits with programs addressing teen drug prevention and early treatment. The teens are also learning to write grants for matching funds.
This event is possible with the help of other organizations helping with this event are: Home Mountain Printing, NWI Times, Porter-Starke Services, Inc., Seismic Sound, Porter County Sheriff’s Department, Pesto’s restaurant, Jill Pfister, Northcoast Distributing, Mark Shelhart of Security Mountain and countless others.
“We are so proud of the Power of Youth Council,” stated Sharon Kish, President of The United Way of Porter County. “They are tackling the problem of teen substance abuse and providing leadership to our entire community. We hope everyone will come to the Battle of the Bands on 2-20-10 and support their efforts.”