Event planned to focus on overdose awareness and providing hope
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IDAHO FALLS — A nonprofit organization is spreading overdose awareness Wednesday with a candlelight vigil to remember those who have died from addiction. They want to spread a positive message of hope and recognize people in recovery.
Soldiers of Hope—Idaho Falls founder Kathleen Chin-Abood and her husband, co-founder Allen Abood, are hosting the event. The nonprofit organization focuses on drug overdose prevention.
August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. The candlelight vigil will be held at 7 p.m. by the greenbelt near the roundabout by the gazebo in Idaho Falls.
“If somebody has lost somebody to overdose, bring a picture. We make luminaries for each person,” Kathleen said. “(We) read all of the names of the people that we have lost to overdose.”
Last year, the event brought 80 to 100 people. This will be the fourth annual event hosted by Soldiers of Hope. There will be music and guest speakers along with resources.
“Because of the overdose situation we’ve had for the last year and a half, it has kind of exploded. Part of the problem is because of COVID and kids not being accountable for themselves anymore because they couldn’t go to meetings, they couldn’t go to classes so they kind of slipped away,” Allen said. “So because of that, we started seeing a lot of relapses.”
According to Eastern Idaho Public Health, Idaho Drug Overdose Mortality data from 2021 indicates 353 Idahoans experienced fatal drug overdoses. Of those 353 drug overdoses, 241 deaths were related to any opioid overdose and 152 deaths were related to fentanyl overdose.
“Relapse is a death sentence. It’s just that simple. Relapse is not an option anymore because of all the fentanyl that’s out there,” said Allen.
Both Allen and Kathleen have personal stories regarding addiction. Click here to read more. They want people to be aware of others.
“If you have a friend that’s acting weird or who is not acting normal or they have disappeared and you don’t see them anymore, you need to go out and reach out. Maybe they are struggling,” Allen said. “Maybe they are ready to relapse.”
One of the main topics at the event this Wednesday will be talking about relapses.
RELATED: ‘We wanted to turn our pain into purpose.’ Local event helps spread overdose awareness.
Allen and Kathleen both said they are always available to help anyone struggling.
“We hand out Narcan…if you get to them (a person who has overdosed) in time, it’s just a simple nasal spray and it will bring them out of the overdose,” Kathleen said.
Narcan can be used in an emergency situation.
Allen and Kathleen believe they have been making a difference with their nonprofit organization by spreading awareness. Allen said he received a message from a woman on his phone one day thanking him.
“She just wanted to thank us for giving her the Narcan. (She said), ‘My cousin came over last night and he overdosed on fentanyl and because I had that, I saved his life and he got to go home to his three kids and his wife that night,'” Allen explained. “That’s big. I hope that he reached out and got some help and is doing something in recovery to get well.”
Soldiers of Hope can be reached at (208) 227-4847 or (949) 637-6374 for help. Below are a list of resources they have provided.
Allen and Kathleen said there is another event coming up on Sept. 2 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. called the Recovery Festival, which will be held at the Freeman Park Bandshell. The event is put on by another nonprofit called The Center for Hope. There will be live music, food, activities for kids, snow cones, speakers, and a lot of resources.
