Warren Hills Regional High School and Hackettstown High School students, as well as area Girl Scouts, kicked off “Project Sticker Shock,” a youth-led initiative to change adult attitudes about selling and providing alcohol to minors, at liquor stores throughout Warren County. 

This public awareness project is sponsored by the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities, a program of the Family Guidance Center of Warren County, to bring attention to the issue of underage drinking and the adults who provide alcohol to minors.  The campaign directly challenges adult attitudes and social norms about selling and providing alcohol to minors. 

Girl Scouts helped “sticker” at Liberty Liquors in Great Meadows. From left to right are store owner Bartek Tomaszewski, Liz Montalvo from the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities, and Girl Scouts Madison Fluck and Alyssa Carey.

The fluorescent green and black stickers placed throughout liquor stores by participants serve as a strong reminder that providing alcohol to minors is illegal and doing so comes with serious consequences.  Each sticker reminds patrons that “It’s illegal to buy alcohol for youth under age 21,” and let’s them know the penalty for breaking the law.

In the state of New Jersey, providing alcohol to a minor can result in up to $1,000 in fines and a six-month jail sentence. 

The Coalition works diligently and passionately to create a safer, healthier community for young people to grow and develop.  The Sticker Shock Project is one of many campaigns it teams up with local schools to accomplish this goal. 

This year’s campaign had the support of the following liquor stores: Warren County Discount Liquors and Washington Discount Liquors in Washington Borough; Mountain Valley Fine Wines and Liquors in Oxford; Liberty Liquors in Great Meadows; and Shop Rite Wine and Spirits in Hackettstown.