DARLINGTON — The Darlington Police Department has made a change to its annual Brat Feed & Ball Game, scheduled for Aug. 6, due to COVID-19. The picnic and ball game have been canceled, but a drive thru mean will take its place. 

The event, which is a fundraiser for the DARE Program and other prevention programs in Darlington, has typically been hosted the first Thursday of every August and is attended by hundreds of Darlington area citizens. 

The department will be hosting a drive-thru at the Festival Grounds next to Casey’s General Store from 5 to 7 p.m. Officers will be serving up brats, hotdogs, cheese, milk, and more. There is not a set cost for the meal. Donations will be accepted. 

Those who attend the event will have options to enjoy the brat meal. Attendees can simply drive thru and leave, or they are welcome to stay and listen to live music by Tom Black. There will be parking and room on the grounds to enjoy the food and live music while still practicing social distancing. Residents should bring their own lawn chairs or picnic blanket if they plan to stay.

This is the 23rd year the department has hosted the event, which benefits prevention programs in Darlington, like the Darlington Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. The Darlington D.A.R.E. program is taught in first and third grades at Holy Rosary Catholic School as well as fifth grade at the Darlington Elementary-Middle School. It includes follow up presentations in the seventh and eighth grades as well as a Role Model Program in the junior and senior levels. 

In addition, the program provides scholarships to graduating DHS Seniors. The goal of the D.A.R.E. program is to heighten relations between the police and youth and to reduce the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs as well as the use of violent behavior by young people.