TEMISKAMING SHORES (Special) – There’s an opportunity August 29 to remember those whose lives have been changed by drug poisonings and overdoses.

Gatherings will be held in Temiskaming Shores, Englehart and Kirkland Lake to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.

“The drug poisoning crisis we have witnessed in recent years has profoundly affected many. In 2023 alone, we lost nine community members to opioid-related causes,” said Erin Cowan of the Timiskaming Health Unit, co-chair of the Timiskaming Drug and Alcohol Strategy, in a news release.

Cowan said the annual community events held each August “commemorate the lives lost to the opioid crisis and affirm the community’s commitment to facing substance-related harms in a comprehensive and collaborative approach.”

In Temiskaming Shores, the event runs 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in front of the downtown New Liskeard offices of the Centre de santé communautaire du Témiskaming and Canadian Mental Health Association.

The Pavilion Women’s Centre will offer an art project to remember loved ones.

Health care and service providers will also be on hand with information and resources as well as naloxone kits, which can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

A smaller gathering will be held in Englehart from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Centennial Park near 3rd Street and 4th Avenue. Free promotional items, a memorial board, naloxone kits and harm reducing training, and refreshments will be provided.

The theme of this year’s event is “Together We Can.”

That is “exactly the attitude we need to stop overdoses,” said Anthony Gilpin, chair of the Timiskaming Drug and Alcohol Strategy’s committee of people with lived experience.

“The people in our communities have been our greatest resource in dealing with the complexities of the drug crisis,” said Gilpin in the news release.

“We should start conversations and take solid actions. Together, we can make a difference and save lives. It takes all of us.”