2nd Annual Addiction Awareness Walk, Event for Sunday is Growing

by Contributor | August 9, 2017 7:02 am

OSWEGO – The epidemic of addiction continues to rise and more prevention education is greatly needed, along with treatment options, alternatives, and hope for recovery.

The Opioid crisis has contributed to the overdose death rates and suicide rates skyrocketing in Oswego County. Families and friends are in a unique position to help their loved ones through their addiction recovery and could benefit from additional resources to help.

From support groups to peer specialists, therapy and recovery plans, alternative services, in-patient/out-patient therapies, etc., there is a lot to learn and events like this highlight the abundant resources available in Oswego County to help.

The VOW Foundation is partnering with the Addiction Awareness Group to host this event. The mission of the VOW Foundation is to educate about synthetic drugs and addiction.

Last year, the first Addiction Awareness Walk was well attended, with moer than 100 people.

In addition, more than 40 people walked in the rain to raise awareness of this epidemic disease of addiction.

Meggan Gauger, a new member of the VOW Foundation, provided her thoughts on recovery, “As a recovering addict I wanted to come together with the addiction awareness group, VOW Foundation and Farnham to save lives. I have been to the dark places with my addiction I have also gone though the court system and treatment, but that doesn’t define me as a person. We have been pushing to help save lives and we knew doing the addiction awareness walk last year was a great way to help others, educate and have recourses available for the community. We need to come together and help break the stigma of addiction and bring hope to the ones still struggling.”

This year’s walk will take place this Sunday at the Oswego Elks Lodge, 132 W. Fifth St.

The walk is free and pre-registration has begun. Registration and sign-in on Sunday begins at 10:30 a.m.

The walk will begin at 11 a.m. and start at the Elks – Continue east on Bridge Street – cross the bridge – making a right at East First Street – right at East Utica Street – cross the bridge – right at West First Street – left at Bridge Street/104 West back to the Elks Lodge.

T-Shirts are available to purchase for $10 each, signs/posters/balloons will be available to carry and flyers for distribution.

Speakers include the Oswego County District Attorney/Coroner Greg Oakes, who said, “I commend the VOW Foundation’s continued effort to raise awareness about the harmful impact of drugs, both at the individual and community level. I’m pleased that my office can assist in raising awareness to help overcome the drug epidemic that plagues our country.”

Additional speaker, Scott McAuslan, a Recovery Peer Advocate at Farnham Family Services, said, “Our current addiction problem is a national crisis. In 2016 it cost us, on average, 91 American lives a day. These are lives lost directly to overdose. Many more are lost in drug and/or alcohol related deaths. This is the equivalent of a regional airliner falling out of the sky daily. Combine this with the awareness that addiction hits all walks of life, across all economic and cultural spectrums, and you must ask yourself: Am I willing to stand by and allow this to continue?”

You will find service providers, education, information, vendors, food raffles, entertainment along with activities such as games, coloring/stress reduction table, face painting, photo booth, rock painting, dunking machine and much more.

Entertainment will be provided by Gina Holsopple of Gina Marie Music Studio in Oswego.

Eric Bresee, MS LMHC and executive director of Farnham Family Services said, “Addiction knows no boundaries, impacting families of every socioeconomic status, age, gender, race and ethnicity. We need to continue our efforts to reduce stigma around addiction and support those who are struggling with getting the help they need. Events like this one do just that. Farnham Family Services is happy to support this event and partner with the VOW Foundation to bring a greater awareness of addiction, its impact on families and our community and to educate broadly on available support and services.”

Sponsorship has grown. Please thank all the new event sponsors including Hastings VFW Post 8823 Ladies Auxiliary, Compass Federal Credit Union, InterFace Performance Materials, Farnham Family Services, Inc., Dr. Renato Mandanas, Carol Dillabough and the Oswego Elks Lodge.

Local businesses have donated gift cards and merchandise for the raffle baskets.

The Addiction Awareness Group – for Family and Friends of Addicts – meets every second Tuesday at the Farnham Prevention Offices at 283 W. Second St., Oswego.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

The group’s co-facilitators are Cori Welch and Amy Pelow, both mothers of addicts.
Additional members of the planning committee include Meggan Gauger, Robin Burdick and Teresa Woolson.

For more information or to volunteer at the event, please contact Cori Welch at 532-8518 or email [email protected].

Samantha Welch, daughter of founder Cori Welch, said, “I struggled with addiction for 8 long years. Addiction is a disease. Addiction takes over your whole entire life! Everything you do is to get high. You lose everything, even your will to live! It was to the point where I hoped and prayed every shot would be my last and that feeling sucks! I had lost everything. My whole life crashed down. I lost my kids, my family, my house, my car, almost my life, and eventually my freedom. But, going to Jail was the best thing to happen to me, it saved my life. Now I am almost 16 months sober and have come so far. Recovery is not easy. It is a struggle, but it IS worth it. I pray everyday for everyone still in active addiction to get the help they need. I just want everyone to understand addiction and will continue to spread awareness because it is so important. People need to stop judging addicts and start trying to help!”

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/community/2nd-annual-addiction-awareness-walk-event-for-sunday-is-growing/

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