DrugFreeAZ.org, Go Daddy host 3rd Annual Mall Walk to raise awareness of Arizona drug epidemic

(Phoenix) – On Saturday, Oct. 6, Valley residents will take part in a special event to show their support for www.DrugFreeAz.org  at the third annual Mall Walk held at Scottsdale Fashion Square. This one-of-a-kind event will give supporters a chance to “come in out of the heat” and join other friends and community leaders for a unique walk that will raise awareness and funding for DrugFreeAz.org. Mall Walk 2012 is the only indoor walk of its kind in the state of Arizona and it has grown to include hundreds of participants, a variety of entertainment and food. “This unique and fun event is an excellent opportunity for families to come together to show their support for prevention and healthy living and drug-free kids,” said event chair Michelle Petersen of Diversified Human Resources. This year the anticipated crowd will reach more than 1,000 walkers, almost doubling last year’s attendance. “Community support has been extraordinary this year and we are grateful for the Valley leaders who are volunteering their time to make this event an even bigger success,” said Leslie Bloom, CEO of DrugFreeAz.org. Go Daddy, the world’s largest provider of Web hosting and domain name registrations, is returning as the presenting sponsor.  Go Daddy Executive Vice President Media and Communications Marianne Curran is serving as honorary chair. Curran and Petersen will lead the crowd of walkers in a two-mile walk around the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall early that day.  “This project is another way we think we can help keep kids safe when it comes to illegal drugs,” Curran said, referencing Go Daddy’s work to create the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act in 2008, a federal law to help prevent illegal pharmacies from selling drugs online without a prescription. “We’re back again this year for Mall Walk 2012 because we think we can help make a difference with education and awareness … it’s a fun way to get the message out and spend some time meeting other Valley families looking to help make our community a better place.” “Support has come from all sectors this year” said Petersen, “even the Governor is helping out.” Governor Jan Brewer has proclaimed October 6, 2012 as Drug Free AZ Day, which is a day committed to healthy living and drug-free kids. Drug use is preventable, and studies show that if parents or caregivers approach the subject of drug use there is up to a 50 percent chance that those kids will not even try drugs. DrugfreeAz.org is a collaborative resource that works with many agencies that include both public and private sectors helping to prevent drug use in Arizona’s key resource – the children. Key corporate support, along with GoDaddy.com, has come from General Dynamics, POSA Outreach, Arizona Fall League, Scottsdale Insurance Company and Scottsdale Healthcare.  Other important supporters are Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Arizona*, Sonora Quest Laboratories, Snell & Wilmer LLP, Diversified Human Resources, Universal Technical Institute,  Scottsdale Police Department, frontdoors, Crown Press, Inc., Papa John’s International, bluemedia, HMA Public Relations, Clear Channel Communications, Bohnsack Design and The Capital Grille. Mall Walk 2012 starts with registration at 8:00 a.m. and will feature entertainment and exclusive refreshments from area businesses.  This year, supporters will have an assortment of entertainment  with performances from Arizona Broadway Theatre, dancing from Ambiant Dance, live music from the One More Time band, encouragement from the Arizona Cardinals and Arizona Rattlers, and everyone’s favorite team mascot, Howler from the Coyotes, and POSA from the Police Officers of Scottsdale Association, to name a few. Refreshments and snacks to fuel the walkers include: tasty treats from Modern Steak, healthy snacks from Benedicts Catering and Café, coffee from Starbucks, and pizza from Papa John’s.  Safeway has also pitched in with bottled water and granola and fruit bars. To register online, form a team, or for more information visit: http://www.DrugFreeAz.org/walk. DrugFreeAZ.org, The Partnership for a Drug Free America, Arizona Affiliate is a 501(c)3 nonprofit statewide organization with a volunteer board of directors. DrugFreeAz.org’s mission is to prevent and reduce youth drug and alcohol use through community education and awareness by providing parents, caregivers, healthcare providers, educators, and other with educational tools, information and resources. *An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association About DrugFreeAz.org:  DrugFreeAz.org – The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Arizona Affiliate is a 501(c) (3) non-profit statewide organization with a volunteer board of directors. Their mission is to prevent and reduce youth drug and alcohol use through community education and awareness by providing parents, caregivers, healthcare providers, educators and others with educational tools, information and resources. For more information, visit www.DrugFreeAz.org. About Go Daddy Go Daddy is the world's largest domain name provider, Web hosting provider and new SSL certificate provider, focused on helping small businesses grow larger. Go Daddy provides dozens of cloud computing-based services and is the largest worldwide mass-market hosting provider by annual revenue according to Tier1 Research (Mass-Market Hosting Report-Winter 2012) and is the #1 provider of net-new SSL certificates for 2011, according to the Netcraft, LTD Secure Server Survey.  To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com/PR.