From left to right – Program Manager at Abbotsford Community Services Palwinder Kelay, Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton, CFSEU Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton, and ex-gang member and End Gang Life presenter Jordan Buna
From left to right – Program Manager at Abbotsford Community Services Palwinder Kelay, Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton, CFSEU Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton, and ex-gang member and End Gang Life presenter Jordan Buna

(By John Ackermann) It’s never too early to warn kids about the dangers of gangs and drugs. Now, a school program that does just that is getting a boost from the provincial government.

Justice Minister Suzanne Anton was in Abbotsford today to give a $10,000 cheque to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit for its “End Gang Life” presentations.

Sergeant Lindsey Houghton with the unit says that money will go a long way.

“Absolutely it will. The young man that we go to schools with, he goes to school full-time and he has a job. This money will help fund his ability to travel with us, to go to schools.”

“We can probably do 40 or 50 presentations because of this money. We’ve already done dozens of presentations in communities around the province and probably talked to over 10,000 kids. We’ll easily be able to double that,” he adds.

Houghton says he had countless young people come up to him to say how these classroom talks have helped them resist the gang lifestyle.