The Foothills Fetal Alcohol Society is out to paint the town red this Saturday.

Dana Ormstrup, Executive Director with the group explains International FFAS Day was started back in the late 1990's.

"They wanted to somehow do a celebration or a recognition of nine's, so the ninth month, the ninth day, and at the ninth hour, around the world bells will ring and people will walk and whatever creative thing they come up with in a celebration of nine months of pregnancy, so it's an awareness to bring people together to talk about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, how it's caused, how it's prevented, all of that."

High River's George Lane Park will be lit up in red in honour of the occasion and to prompt questions about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

"A young man in Canada decided that he wanted to talk about his own Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and he wasn't sure how to do that. You can't really walk up to someone and say 'Hey I have FASD, let me tell you about it.'

So he got himself a pair of red running shoes and a t-shirt that said 'Ask me about my red shoes'. He began a movement across the world, started in Canada but across the world called Red Shoes Rocks, you will see us and hopefully many others out with their red shoes on that day."

She says they had a talk with the Town of High River and the entrance to George Lane Park will be lit up red as will the FFAS offices across the street.

Grade nine students from Claresholm to Didsbury and Lake Louise to Strathmore will receive a package of candy to get the message out about FASD.

 

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