BERLIN – The Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction raised more than $1,800 in recent fundraising events, co-founder Jackie Ball told community members in a monthly meeting Tuesday evening at Stephen Decatur High School.
The total is a culmination of two events, which occurred around Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday.
Shelly Bruder owner of Bruder Hill in Berlin, donated a percentage of her store’s profits from Nov. 14-18. The proceeds brought in at least $800, according to Ball. The non-profit’s second fundraiser at Burley Oak Brewing Company Nov. 28 added an additional $1,000.
In the weeks leading up to these events, co-founder Heidi McNeeley said the organization also collected nearly $1,000 in Bob Harman’s name, a member of the Warriors who passed away in October.
All of the money, in addition to funds raised prior to these events, will go toward transportation costs to help those seeking treatment.
In addition to the money, members of the non-profit’s Warrior Angels committee are currently working on a new program that will provide those struggling with addiction with another way to seek help.
Tish Oddey, director for the Warrior Angel committee, said the program will take facets from a similar operation at the Gloucester Police Department in Massachusetts.
The program will allow those struggling with addiction to surrender their drugs at a police station, get help from one of the volunteers and find the resources needed to get sober.
The program does not immediately punish offenders who come to the police for help, but instead assigns them to an “angel” who can direct them to treatment.
“What that volunteer does is walk them through the process and find resources, find a bed, basically until they are some place they need to be,” Oddey said.
The Warriors subcommittee is currently partnering with law enforcement officials to help those who admit their drug abuse.
Oddey said Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby met with chiefs of police last week to gather the support of local agencies, all of whom gave the program their blessing.
“They basically stated that whatever we needed, they were willing to help,” she said. “They were eager to see where this was going to go.”
Now Oddey is seeking the help from community members and those actively involved with the Warriors to become “angels” for the program.
Training to become a volunteer will take place sometime in January and will last five hours, according to Oddey. During this session, the Warrior Angel board will work with the Worcester County Health Department, the Crisis Response Team and the Community Outreach Addiction Team to teach protocols for the program.
The Warrior Angel program will also be open to parents and family members of those struggling with addiction, Oddey said, and will be able to contact the volunteers for resources.
Also in the meeting, McNeeley announced progress on the group’s new website. Participants of the Navigating Resources committee are currently working with D3Corp to gather information for the webpage. The new site will have resources and links for individuals struggling with addiction and support for their family members and friends. The group plans for the website to go live Jan. 15.
“I’m not concerned about great detail,” McNeeley said. “I’m more concerned about getting it out there.”
In the future, McNeeley said the website will have “Ask an Addict” and “Ask a Parent” buttons for visitors of the site to utilize.
For more information on the Worcester County Warriors, visit wocowarriors.org or the group’s Facebook page.
