Full Notification

Sober Graduation is a familiar event to many in Los Banos. This annual event has been giving Los Banos’ graduating High School Seniors a safe place to celebrate since 1984. Sober Graduation is an event that is held all over the country with the goal of preventing the negative consequences of underage drinking. Los Banos has been extremely fortunate that there have been no accidents involving alcohol on graduation night since the program’s inception.

Sober graduation is coordinated by the Los Banos Police Activities League Officer Noah Jones. Officer Jones works all year gathering monetary donations as well as donations of goods and prizes so that the Sober Graduation is as exciting and entertaining as possible. The activities and large number of prizes entice High School Seniors to spend the night at “Sober Grad” instead of attending parties where there may be alcohol present.

The Communities involvement is vital to the survival of this program. In addition to the yearly donations from local merchants and citizens, this Sober Graduation received two large donations. The largest donation was a $2000.00 donation from the Los Banos Police Department. This donation was made available from the Prevention of Underage Drinking Fund associated with the City of Los Banos Social Host Ordinance. The Social Host Ordinance was added to the City of Los Banos Municipal code in June of 2008. This ordinance allows Police to issue citations to the owners of homes where underage drinking takes place. The fines associated with this ordinance increase with each citation beginning at $500.00, increasing to $1,500.00 and ending at $3,000.00.

“When we introduced the Social Host ordinance we specifically established a fund that would take the money received from penalties assessed and put them towards positive activities for youth in our ongoing attempts to deter underage drinking. Donating over $2,000 this year to PAL’s Sober Grad effort is a perfect way to use those funds. ”
-Gary Brizzee, Chief of Police

The Los Banos Sober Graduation Fund also received a $1000.00 donation from the Merced County Chiefs of Police Association.

“Underage drinking is a challenging problem for each of the Chiefs of Police in Merced County. The youth of our communities are precious and we are happy to donate to a program we all believe so strongly in. Los Banos’ Officer Noah Jones does a fantastic job coordinating this event and I know he’s going to use this contribution to help make this year’s sober graduation an outstanding success.”
-Gary Brizzee, Chief of Police

The 2013 Sober Graduation Celebration will be held at Pacheco High School on June 7, 2013. The doors will open after the conclusion of graduation ceremonies. The festivities continue all night until 5:00a.m.

The Los Banos Police Activities League is still accepting donations for this year’s Sober Graduation celebration. For more information regarding donations or volunteer opportunities please contact Officer Noah Jones at (209) 827-0603.