Iola Kiwanis met Tuesday at Allen Community College and welcomed Jessica McGinnis, Drug-Free Community Coordinator for the Allen County Multi-Agency Team (ACMAT) and Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center who told members about the organization.
ACMAT was created in 1994 as part of the KanFocus grant initiative in Kansas. The goal of this coalition at the time was to bring organizations and individuals together to collaborate and share information to better serve children and families in crisis in Allen County. The initial funding was used to support local nonprofits that promote educational and healthy programs that served children and families.
Once funding dissolved, according to the ACMAT website, the coalition continued to meet as an information sharing and collaborative group. In 2007, new leadership helped transition the group to a more action oriented and visible coalition, taking on larger initiatives and identifying more critical issues in Allen County.
ACMAT is committed to providing a unified service system that collaborates with community partners and pulls resources to meet the needs of children, individuals, families and community members. McGinnis mentioned the many partners in civic, government, education, health care, non-profit, faith, and community circles that help ACMAT promote a healthier community.
Some activities of ACMAT mentioned were the Family Safety Night, Bucks for Buckles, Sticker Shock campaign to discourage underage drinking and the myriad efforts to prevent drug, tobacco and alcohol use by area youths.
ACMAT’s website is acmatcoalition.org and it also has a Facebook page.
The Iola Kiwanis Club meets weekly, noon Tuesdays, at the college and welcomes interest in membership. Call President John Shields, (620) 365-2700, or email [email protected] for more information.
