Lake Zurich based Take a Stand held its second annual Drug Awareness Walk Saturday, which included a somber remembrance with the release of hundreds of purple balloons for the lives lost to addiction.
A crowd gathered at Paulus Park in Lake Zurich to hear stories of recovery and stories of loss.
Bre Bjornberg, 13, lost her father and brother, Michael, to heroin addiction. Her father died two years ago while her brother died in September 2012.
Both were good people but drugs took over their lives, she said, her voice breaking at times as she spoke to the crowd.
"It's not just an addiction , it's a disease," she said.
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