wfn.org | Million-dollar Gift for Australian Anti-drugs Campaigner

["Beckett, John" <BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org>]

ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
January 25, 2000
----------------------
Million-dollar Gift for Australian Anti-drugs Campaigner
Sydney, Australia...[ANN]

Seventh-day Adventist drug reform campaigner Margaret McKay has received a
$1 million donation from a Sydney businessman to establish a rural drug
rehabilitation center for addicts. Advocating a "zero tolerance" approach to
drug use, McKay plans to build a center where addicts will spend up to 18
months in recovery. According to McKay, they will be treated with respect
and dignity, with the goal of enhancing their self worth. The emphasis will
be on helping recovering addicts become a responsible part of the community
and deal with problems without turning to drugs.

The donor, who does not want to be named, sees his million-dollar gift as
"getting the project off the ground."

"I thought if I can provide the money, the project should get the support it
needs from others," he says, "I have major faith in Margaret; she is a woman
of strong convictions who won't turn away from this project in a couple of
years when something else comes along."

McKay's son, David, died from a methadone overdose in 1997 after a 17-year
battle with drugs. Since then McKay has worked tirelessly for drug abuse
prevention through her organization Keep Our Kids Alive. In 1999 McKay
attended a government-sponsored drug summit where her staunch advocacy,
reported in the media, caught the attention of the Sydney businessman and
his wife.  

A tentative site for the new center has been found on the mid-north coast of
New South Wales near Port Macqaurie. McKay will involve members of her local
Adventist Church in building and staffing the center and plans to promote
the Church's health principles in the rehabilitation treatments.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is expected to officially open the
facility when it is completed. [SPD Record/ANN Staff]
----------------------
Contact Information: 
Communications Department
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600

Phone: 301-680-6300
e-mail: info@gc.adventist.org
web: http://www.adventist.org/