The Marquette County Cares Coalition is developing a multimedia campaign to battle drug abuse and underage drinking. The coalition’s Teen Team has created video and audio spots toward this effort. (Logo courtesy of MC2)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Cares Coalition, or MC2, is developing a multimedia campaign to combat drug abuse and underage drinking.

The coalition is composed of community agencies focused on drug and alcohol abuse prevention. So far, the coalition’s Teen Team has created video and audio spots, and over the next few months, the team will have posters and bookmarks produced professionally with their input and messaging.

Two sets of twins on the Teen Team — Halle and Hayden Graves, 15, of Ishpeming, and Maya and Naomi Griffin, 13, of Marquette — recently worked with a coalition task force, called the Youth Development Committee, to create two public service announcements for radio.

“This was the girls’ first experience recording in a studio, which offered them an opportunity to build new skills and get a close-up look behind the scenes,” coalition coordinator Jennifer Eyler said.

The mediaBrew Communication Studio in Marquette and the Radio Results Network helped make this happen, providing airtime to the coalition at a reduced rate and offering valuable experience to the teens at no cost.

“The studio was pretty cool,” Halle Graves said. “I liked seeing how something like this gets put together. I am so glad to be part of something that speaks to other teens about the dangers of drug use.”

MediaBrew program and production director Eric Tasson assisted the teens.

“Eric was really nice and helped ease our nerves,” Hayden Graves said. “It’s great to be able to get the message out to the public about this important issue.”

According to research conducted by the teens, people who start drinking young are seven times more likely to be in an alcohol-related traffic crash. Long-term chronic use of drugs is associated with decreased mental sharpness, poor performance at school or work and reduced numbers of friends and interests.

The teens’ public education campaign started as a part of the coalition’s 2020 Be Bold MC2 PSA contest, which provided participating individual youth or groups with an opportunity to win cash prizes for their video and audio submissions.

“We had a lot of great entries in the contest this year, which urged youth to ‘Be Bold,'” said Kelly Sager, Youth Involvement Committee chairwoman. “And this is where the Teen Team began its important multimedia campaign.”

The contest generated more than 30 entries from youth. After four years of holding the annual event, it has been paused during the coronavirus pandemic.

The NorthCare Network funds MC2 with the goal of preventing youth problem behaviors. Community members are welcome to join in the Marquette County Cares Coalition activities, with just a few hours of time each month.

For more details, visit UPCNetwork.org/Marquette.

The Marquette County Cares Coalition expressed its appreciation to the West End Health Foundation for its support.