An estimated 40 people gathered at a ceremony on Monday August 25 at City Park in Reading for a flag-raising ceremony in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day, which takes place annually on August 31.
This marks the second year that the SOS Berks Opioid Coalition has partnered with the City of Reading to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day with a flag raising ceremony. The flag will fly for 7 days, in honor of those who have lost their lives to an overdose.
The ceremony featured speeches by state, county and local officials who spoke of the toll overdose deaths have taken on our communities and the work being done to fight stigma and support those in recovery from substance use disorder. It began with an invocation and a moment of silence led by Pastor Tom Scornavacchi.
Speakers included PA State Senator Judy Schwank, Berks County Commissioner Michael Rivera, Reading Mayor Eddie Morán, as well as Dr. William Santoro, of St. Luke’s University Hospital Network Addiction Fellowship, and Kathleen Strain, Manager of Advocacy and Peer Services at Partnership to End Addiction.
Santoro gave a moving speech about a patient, who despite all efforts to recover, lost his life to an overdose. He urged the public to fight for those in recovery.
“We must fight for them with everything we’ve got: with passion, with science, with funding, with legislation, with truth and with humanity. Because recovery is possible, but it is fragile and it is not guaranteed,” he said.
Commissioner Rivera, who is the co-chair of the SOS Berks Coalition, spoke of the work being done by SOS Berks to fight overdoses in Berks County, and reminded the audience that substance use affects people from “every corner of our county, across all races, genders and backgrounds. Substance use disorder does not discriminate, and neither should our compassion,” he said.
Mayor Moran shared his own recovery story, and called on others to share their stories, to help spread the word that recovery is possible. Along with several members of Reading City Council, he presented SOS Berks with an official proclamation from the City of Reading, recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day.
Senator Judy Schwank noted the work being done by so many to help fight the overdose crisis throughout Berks County. “Let’s rededicate ourselves today, as we raise this flag, to making sure that we continue to focus on recovery,” she said.
Strain, who said she has lost more than one family member to an overdose, ended the ceremony with a call to fight stigma, which “perpetuates the harmful notion that individuals who use drugs are less deserving of compassion and empathy.”
Strain raised the flag, which will remain at City Park for seven days.
International Overdose Awareness Day, which takes place every year on August 31, is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.
