Spectrum Health marks International Overdose Awareness Day

Annual free event scheduled for Aug. 26

Spectrum Health and Human Services Press Release

Spectrum Health and Human Services will present the fourth annual “Not One More: Stand Together to End Overdose,” a free evening of remembrance and information, from 5-8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26, at Veterans Memorial Park in West Seneca (1250 Union Road, behind Town Hall).

This free and family-friendly event is a community collaboration to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day, a global initiative to raise awareness and remember lives lost.

Friends and family members are invited to bring a photograph of a loved one who lost their life to overdose. These photos will be added to custom-made “We Remember Them” banner designed by Spectrum Health’s Kristina Moore, R.N. The banner will hang in the Town of West Seneca Community Center Atrium on selected days.

The popular local band The Kensingtons will perform on the Lions Club bandshell. The Kensingtons are well-known in music circles for regular appearances on popular stages and community awareness events.

Representatives from 13 local agencies will also be there with resources, including Erie County’s Department of Health harm reduction team, Crisis Services, Spectrum Health’s Buffalo H.O.P.E. COMPHS, Endeavor Health Services, BestSelf, Save the Michaels of the World Inc., Horizon Health Services, VA WNY Healthcare Services, and Narcotics Anonymous.

There will also be family activities, including the “Imagination Playground” from the Explore & More – The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children’s Museum, “Y on the Fly” from the YMCA Buffalo Niagara, and the Healthy Cruiser from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of WNY.

Also on Tuesday, Aug. 20, representatives from Spectrum Health’s medication assisted treatment program will be in Larkin Square at “Food Truck Tuesday” to distribute Narcan kits and provide information and training.

For more information, visit www.shswny.org.

Spectrum Health and Human Services provides mental health, addiction, rehabilitation, care coordination, housing, and crisis services in locations throughout Western New York. Founded in 1973, it is also a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC). Visit www.shswny.org for more information.