Baltimore Believe Campaign :: essays papers

Baltimore Believe Campaign The Baltimore Believe Campaign was started in April of 2002. It is a city wide campaign aimed to reduce the amount of drug use in the city. The idea of the â€Å"Believe† campaign has never been tried before. The campaign calls for Baltimore to believe, believe that drugs can be eliminated off of the streets, and drug dealers to be punished. Since the start of the campaign the idea has expanded around the country. Mayor Martin O’Malley has spread his idea around. The Believe Campaign surfaced in April of 2002. By April 14, 2002 the â€Å"Declaration of Independence from Drugs† was released in The Sun Newspaper (Wilber, The Sun). The Baltimore Police Foundation funds the campaign. All around the city there are billboards, trashcans, and bumper stickers with the word â€Å"BELIEVE† on them. The first hearing of the campaign was on April 6th, 2002. In October of 2003 Mayor O’Malley when on a trip to London, he was there to discuss the Baltimore Believe Campaign. London was interested in starting a campaign based on the believe campaign. The campaign is an ongoing part of the Baltimore City Community’s everyday actions. Mayor Martin O’Malley put the idea into motion. As said in a letter from Thomas D. Vicino, from the New York Times, â€Å"Mayor Martin O'Malley's efforts should be applauded. He has conquered the first obstacle in fighting urban decay: recognition of a problem. Keep on believing, Baltimore, because if we don't, how can anything change?† (Vicino, New York Times). There is really no other way to summarize all of the things Mayor O’Malley has done for the campaign. Another important role is the Baltimore Believe Leadership. This group works with the help number, 1-866-BELIEVE, and the campaign by setting up fundraisers and other events. Mayor O’Malley and the Baltimore Believe Leadership hold press conferences to inform the people about what goes on with the Believe Campaign’s progress and areas of concern regularly so the community stays informed on the progress. The community is another big role in the campaign. The communities of Baltimore Ci ty have taken the campaign in and â€Å"believe† it will have a positive affect on their communities. On April 6th, 2002 Mayor O’Malley announced his campaign to clean the streets of Baltimore. The Mayor had acknowledged a huge problem in the city, the drugs on the street were becoming out of control.