saturday in somers point: flowers in the bay for the ones nj lost

this saturday, august 29th, from 5 to 8pm, four grassroots groups are holding an overdose awareness and remembrance event at william morrow beach in somers point. not one more nj, new jersey resource project, new jersey organizing project, and andy's glow foundation are hosting. angels in motion is providing resources alongside andy's glow foundation.

the plan: an hour of food and fellowship, then a program with three speakers and videos, then a walk over the bridge to drop flowers in the bay for folks who have died.

everyone is invited. doesn't matter if you're from atlantic county or not, if you're in recovery, still using, grieving someone, or just want to be there. organizers expect 60 to 80 people: family members who lost someone, people in long term recovery, people who work in the field, etc.

worth noting, this is happening three days before international overdose awareness day, which is always august 31st. the press release that landed in our inbox was labeled "1 of 37," meaning somers point is one stop in a coordinated push happening across new jersey towns this week, all timed to the same holiday weekend.

the state's own numbers give some shape to why this event is being organized, per the governor's most recent overdose awareness day proclamation, more than seven people die from overdose in new jersey every day. 2,564 people died from suspected overdoses in 2023, down from 2,892 in 2022. most of those deaths involved fentanyl or one of its analogs, increasingly cut with xylazine. the state points to that decline, plus its expansion of harm reduction centers, as proof something is working.

worth naming plainly who's actually organizing saturday though: family members and small volunteer nonprofits, not the county's official recovery program and not the state health department. make of that what you will.

if you go: william morrow beach, bay avenue, somers point nj 08244. saturday august 29th, 5 to 8pm.

recovery workers and family members who've lost someone are available for interviews before and after, through amanda devecka-rinear at the new jersey organizing project, 609-312-8471 or amanda@newjerseyop.org.

the new jersey organizing project does incredible work... katie and amanda are absolute angels on this earth. i implore you to follow their cause, make donations, and make a positive impact in this world/.

https://newjerseyop.org/