This week is Chautauqua County Overdose Awareness Week.
The week, which runs through August 31, is a county-wide initiative to promote hope, healing, remembrance, recovery, education, and community connection while encouraging meaningful conversations about substance use and mental health. Throughout the week, the community is invited to participate in themed Spirit Week activities, attend local events, and stand together in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31.
Together We Can CHQ coalition is a community-driven overdose awareness coalition dedicated to fostering hope, healing, connection, and compassion. Through its Be the Light Initiatives, the coalition works to fight stigma, support recovery, honor lives, and strengthen the community through education, advocacy, harm reduction, and meaningful connection.
Several community buildings will be participating by “Keeping the Light On,” illuminating their buildings purple to recognize this observance. Community members are encouraged to participate by wearing the daily themes, visiting buildings illuminated in purple, taking photos with coworkers, friends, family members, classrooms, or organizations, and sharing them on Facebook and Instagram while tagging Together We Can CHQ.
“Keeping The Lights On” participants include Mayville Village Clerks Office, Jamestown City Hall
Dunkirk City Hall, and the Dunkirk Police Department.
Spirit Events over the next week will be as follows:
Monday, August 24: Challenge the Stigma
Wear recovery or mental health apparel.
Tuesday, August 25: Peace Out to Accidental Overdose
Wear tie-dye.
Wednesday, August 26: Band Together
Wear your favorite band or concert T-shirt.
Thursday, August 27: Glow for Awareness
Wear neon or bright colors.
Friday, August 28: Be the Light
Wear purple or your Together We Can CHQ shirt
Saturday, August 29: Let’s Team Together
Wear your favorite sports team apparel or jersey.
Sunday, August 30: International Overdose Awareness Day
Wear purple, honor those we have lost, celebrate recovery, and join communities around the world in raising awareness and inspiring hope.
The signature event of Overdose Awareness Week is the 3rd Annual Be the Light: Anyone Can Save a Life, that will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Saturday, August 29 at the Lower Pavilion at Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk.
Unlike a traditional awareness event, Be the Light combines education, prevention, remembrance, family activities, and community connection into one evening designed to reduce stigma, build hope, and bring lifesaving resources directly to the people who need them.
Event highlights include a community resource fair featuring local organizations, live music by Miranda Wilcox, community yoga led by Dyann Bourne of Reborne Wellness, inspiring stories of hope and recovery, children’s activities, face painting, games, and prizes. Evergreen Health will provide free opioid overdose prevention education, naloxone (Narcan) training, harm reduction resources, and medication disposal education. Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone will present information about New York State’s 911 Good Samaritan Law. The evening will also include food, a basket raffle and 50/50 fundraiser, and Together We Can CHQ event T-shirts available for purchase.
As the evening concludes, attendees will gather for a community remembrance vigil led by Reverend Jim LaBarr of Harvest Chapel. The ceremony will include a moment of silence, prayer, and a purple glow wand tribute honoring the lives of those lost to accidental overdose while offering hope and healing to families, friends, and the community.
Together We Can CHQ’s work extends throughout the year. The coalition offers free community opioid overdose prevention and naloxone trainings, is launching the Be the Light Grief Support Group this September for individuals grieving the loss of a loved one to substance use, and established the Be the Light Scholarship, which supports the continuing education and professional development of first responders throughout Chautauqua County. This year marks the awarding of the coalition’s first scholarship.
For additional information, contact Together We Can CHQ Founder Jennifer Larson at (716) 248-8678 or email togetherwecanchq@gmail.com. Together We Can CHQ is also on Facebook and Instagram
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