HOWELL – The Howell Municipal Alliance will hold its annual Overdose Awareness Day vigil at Echo Lake, 1225 Maxim-Southard Road, Howell, at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 29.
The Howell alliance is part of the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse municipal alliance program for community-based substance abuse prevention strategies.
The alliance’s mission statement says it “collaborates across the community to prevent substance abuse, underage drinking, alcoholism, tobacco use, teen vaping and other at-risk behaviors through prevention awareness, education and programs. It also promotes mental well-being and reduction of the stigmas associated with substance use and mental health disorders. Alliance stakeholders include police officers, educators, town officials, businesses, local organizations and concerned citizens.”
“The event in general is to raise awareness of overdoses, the lives lost to overdoses, to remember them and also to reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths,” said Christa Riddle, who is the coordinator of the alliance.
She said the vigil will be a time to share, a time for people to express their grief and to remember those whose lives were lost to an overdose.
“Last year we had people come from other communities because they like what we do. It is a very peaceful event. We light candles in memory, people will come up and speak about loved ones they lost. We have an acoustic guitar playing, peaceful background music,” Riddle said.
The alliance has collaborated with the CFC Loud-N-Clear Foundation each year to include photographs of people who have died from an overdose. The Aug. 29 vigil will be hosted by the Howell Municipal Alliance, Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing (GRASP), the CFC Loud-N-Clear Foundation and the Howell Police Department.
“We are not having our event on International Overdose Awareness Day (Aug. 31). Ours is on Aug. 29 because we know it is Labor Day weekend and we still want to encourage people to come out, even if they are going away. We felt like we might lose some people if we held it on Aug. 31, so we are holding it ahead of the holiday weekend,” Riddle said.