A&E Enters ‘Recovery Project’
Multiyear Initiative Aims To Raise Awareness That Addiction In Treatable Disease
By Multichannel News Staff -- Multichannel News, 9/16/2008 8:25:00 AM
A&E Network has initiated a multiyear initiative to help raise awareness that addiction is treatable disease and recovery is possible.
Inspired by the response from viewers and families to the Emmy-nominated documentary series Intervention, “The Recovery Project” kicks off Sept. 27 with a public celebration organized in partnership with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. in New York City.
Thousands of individuals and families in recovery, treatment partners and advocates from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, will join together to form a human chain – a living symbol of recovery -- across the Brooklyn Bridge and proceed to a rally at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan.
A&E has partnered with several leading federal agencies and non-profit organizations to develop The Recovery Project, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.; and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
A dedicated Web site, www.therecoveryproject.com, will list ways for viewers to get involved and provide links to charitable organizations they may wish to donate time or resources to.
Throughout National Recovery Month in September, AETN networks – including A&E, History, Bio Channel and the Crime & Investigation Network – will air a series of public service advertisements, highlighting the importance of treatment and the hope for recovery. Benjamin Bratt, star of A&E's scripted addiction series The Cleaner, which is based on a real-life interventionist, Whoopi Goldberg, Russell Simmons and Christopher Lawford are among the celebrities featured in the campaign.
“Our company has always subscribed to the belief that you can do well by doing good, and The Recovery Project is a fine example of that,” said Bob DeBitetto, president and general manager, A&E Network and Bio Channel, in a statement. “We believe that the considerable reach of A&E Network provides a powerful platform to address, head-on, this enormous public health issue and the urgent need for meaningful action. Intervention served as a wake-up call to the fact that addiction is a disease pervading every aspect of our society. Nobody is immune, and everyone deserves a chance to fight for his or her recovery.”
