The Story of Red Ribbon
					Enrique "Kiki" Camarena          1947-1985
	Enrique "Kiki" Camarena grew up in a dirt-floored house with hopes and dreams of making a difference.  Camarena worked his way through college, served in the Marines and became a police officer.  When he decided to join the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, his mother tried to talk him out of it.  "I can't not do this," he told her.  "I'm only one person, but I want to make a difference." The DEA sent Camarena to work undercover in Mexico investigating a major drug cartel believed to include officers in the Mexican army, police and government.  On Feb. 7, 1985, the 37-year-old Camarena left his office to meet his wife for lunch.  Five men appeared at the agent's side and shoved him in a car.  One month later, Camarena's body was found in a shallow grave.  He had been tortured to death.  In honor of Camarena's memory and his battle against illegal drugs, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin.  Parents, sick of the destruction of alcohol and other drugs, had begun forming coalitions.  Some of these new coalitions took Camarena as their model and embraced his belief that one person can make a difference. These coalitions also adopt the symbol of Camarena's memory, the red ribbon. The National Family Partnership organized the first Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign in 1988. Since that time, the campaign has reached millions of U.S. children. Today Red Ribbon is a national event honoring Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Since  Enrique's death, "Camarena Clubs" were launced in high schools in California, and hundreds of students pledged to lead drug-free lives. Two club members presented the "Camarena Club Proclamation" to then first lady Nancy Reagan, bringing it to national attention. Parent groups, youth, and local comunities, all over the nation have since embraced this campaign. The Red Ribbon Week Celebration has become instituionalized within schools and communities in California and throughout the United STates to raise awareness about the problems of substance abuse and prevention strategies that work. During Red Ribbon Week, millions of people throughout California and the nation proclaim ;                          "No use of illegal drugs, and no misuse of legal drugs!" Kiki's Memory Unites the Nation to Fight and Take A Stand against Drugs and Substance Abuse