August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day and people around the world stop each year in solidarity to reflect on the lives of friends and family who lost their battle with addiction. The Copiague Cares, Lindy Cares, Hope for Youth, 1st Pct. COPE and the Evangel Church of God Mission gathered at the Lindenhurst Middle School to pray for peace and comfort for our friends and neighbors and to make a promise to stay connected to help strengthen our ties to each other and our community as a whole. Pastor Rick Mullins and the Evangel Church of God mission created an environment of caring and support with prayer and song to bring the guests to a quiet moment of reflection. While we cannot change the past we know that there is something that we can all do to help those who come after. In response to 2020 trends of increasing overdose rates, local residents brought over 160 pounds of unused, unwanted and expired drugs for safe disposal. Our amazing police partners from the 1st Precinct, collected the mediations for incineration. Together with caring community partnerships and sound practices to delay the onset and progression of substance misuse we can make a difference.
Why we do this: People often share their unused pain relievers, unaware of the dangers of non-medical opioid use. Most adolescents who misuse prescription pain relievers are given them for free by a friend or relative. In Lindy 95% of students in grades 8-12 report that their parents and caregivers believe it's important to never take medicine not prescribed to you. Knowledge is power!