Last month, someone in the West Indy women's friendship group from Facebook invited me to volunteer with Overdose Lifeline. Volunteers gather every other Tuesday night to pack NARCAN Nasal Spray kits for distribution throughout Indiana. I took part on the first Tuesday of February. I appreciated this amazing and meaningful opportunity. My son survived an overdose in 2023, thanks to NARCAN.
What an impactful non-profit organization to support! They provide youth prevention programs, educational training, grief support, and prevention supplies. Overdose Lifeline offers these statistics on why overdose prevention matters:
- "1 in 4 noncancer opioid users struggle with addiction"
- "100,000+ overdose deaths in the US were estimated to have occurred in 2021"
- "90 % of addictions have been proven to originate during the teenage years"
Our simple volunteer work allowed us to talk with others while we slapped instruction labels on the fentanyl test strips. We felt we might not get through the quantity of strips, but many hands working cleared it in no time. After that, we packed NARCAN Nasal Spray kits. I hope to go again with my son, Sean. On this particular Tuesday, I knew a few of the other women, but also met new individuals from the friendship group.
After the 5-7 volunteer event, we drove to a nearby pub, Chatham Tap Butler. What a tasty dinner! Their menu offered so many appealing options, but I settled on the fish and chips (hoping for another nostalgic British experience). Though not served in newspaper (a British thing), and very hard to eat (falling apart before I could dip it into the tartar sauce), it was delicious.
Sadly, I struggled with the night driving and parking on the Butler campus. I parked in the visitor lot down the street. When I attempted to leave, I pushed in my ticket, swiped my credit card, and a receipt churned out. Only problem, the gate didn't lift. Instead, the machine indicated I had taken too long and needed to take another ticket and pay again. Frustrated, I tried to move to the other machine with my new ticket. Alas, the same thing transpired. I was worried I'd be stuck in the parking garage all night. Thankfully, some kind-hearted student noticed my dilemma. He ran over and swiped his card to let me out of the garage.
When I returned home, I looked more carefully at the credit card receipts. Apparently, it had denied my card. That is why the darn gate didn't lift. In my flustered state, I don't think I even thanked the lovely student who saved me from the parking garage purgatory. It was a much later night than I'm used to (early bed, early rise gal I am), but I was grateful for the invitation.
If you are in the Indianapolis area and are interested in helping this cause, visit Overdose Lifeline to sign up for a volunteer slot some Tuesday evening. At the end of our volunteering shift, a young girl rose to thank the volunteers and to share the opportunity to take supplies home with you to keep in your car or home. She also mentioned that they pack and distribute 24,000 of these in Indiana each month. Wow! Feel free to contact Overdose Lifeline to secure some NARCAN Nasal Spray kits and fentanyl test strips you can keep in your car or home, in case you come upon someone who is struggling with opioid addiction. You can also offer financial support to enable this fine organization to continue their fight against this pervasive social dilemma.
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