Fairfax County, VA, August 20, 2009 – Preparing for the return of college students over the coming weeks, the Fairfax County Police, Premium Distributors of VA, Heineken USA, and state delegates are teaming up to offer Fairfax County restaurants and bars another tool in the fight against underage access to alcohol.
The community partnership provides licensed retailers with a “Responsibility Toolkit” including a small device to assist in the process of checking proper patron identification and a poster that reminds both those serving alcohol as well as customers that the retailers check ID’s. This is a combined effort with law enforcement to both ‘Serve & Protect’ the community.
“This program fits perfectly with our Alcohol Awareness & Education programs within Fairfax County as it engages a number of different perspectives toward one common goal – preventing underage drinking,” said Captain Susan Culin, Commander of the Traffic Division, Fairfax County Police Department.
Beginning this week, officers will be distributing the toolkit to retailers in targeted areas and intend to distribute the device widely through the County throughout the month.
Local beer distributor, Premium Distributors of Virginia brings a family and business perspective to the project. “We are committed and proud to contribute toward the betterment of the community in which we live and do business and have served for years. We take seriously our role in marketing and selling beer responsibly. This program is a natural fit with retailer, brewer and community relationships,” said, John Zeltner, President Premium Distributors of Virginia. Premium VA drivers and sales persons will reinforce the message with retailers on their sales calls throughout the month.
The welfare of Virginians is a top priority for Virginia legislators. A number of Virginia state representatives were at the forefront of building this program including; Delegates David L. Bulova, Chuck Caputo, Speaker of the House Bill Howell and Senator Mark Herring who helped guide the initiative and continue to support the message and outreach.
This initiative is being supported by brewer Heineken USA. “Heineken USA prides itself on being a responsible corporate and community citizen,” said, Dan Tearno, Chief Corporate Relations Officer for Heineken USA. “This program is a tangible demonstration of our dedication to the communities where we live and work and our commitment to help eliminate underage access to alcohol.”
To see the elements of this program, please visit http://www.premiumdistributorsofva.com/home.html.