Casey DeSantis Makes Public Appearance To Announce Anti-Drug Initiative

Florida Phoenix

November 5, 2021

Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, undergoing treatment for cancer, on Friday made a public appearance during a school assembly in Pinellas County to promote her campaign discouraging teen drug abuse and encouraging mental health treatment.

It was her second public appearance since Gov. Ron DeSantis announced her breast cancer diagnosis on Oct. 4. In mid-October, Ms. DeSantis made a surprise appearance during a Republican Party dinner in Hernando County.

“I’m very humbled and very honored and happy to be here, for, obviously, a lot of reasons,” Ms. DeSantis said Friday at Seminole High School.

She appeared — looking fit and energetic — with the governor to announce a $5 million infusion into a program called “The Facts. Your Future.” The money will finance public messaging and a school curriculum to encourage young people to keep away from drugs. Also along was Madison, the eldest of the couple’s three children.

Ms. DeSantis launched the campaign in 2019 as part of her “Hope for Healing” initiative, a multi-agency campaign to attack drug abuse and boost mental health treatment in Florida. Those have been her chief priorities since her husband assumed office.

The kids heard from a recovering alcohol abuser, parents who lost children to drug abuse, and Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma.

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