The Hub at the Burroughs Community Center in Bridgeport is celebrating Red Ribbon Week in an effort to educate the youth and encourage them to participate in drug prevention activities.

The Hub is a Regional Behavioral Health Action Organization that serves 14 towns from Stratford to Greenwich.

The National Family Partnership sponsored the first Red Ribbon celebration in the 1980s.

NFP says the Red Ribbon Week was started in honor of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was tortured and killed in Mexico. It has since become the nation's largest and longest-running drug-use prevention campaign.

One of the agencies The Hub partners with is the Fairfield CARES Community Coalition.

Recent Fairfield CARES data shows that while marijuana and alcohol use in Fairfield seventh through 12th graders has gone down slightly from 2019 to 2021, it's more widely accepted.

This year's theme is "Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free."

NFP says the theme is a reminder that everyday Americans across the country make significant daily contributions to their communities by being the best they can be because they live drug-free.

Students can also participate in a national photo contest as part of Red Ribbon Week for a chance to win some prizes for their school.