Never Look Down on Someone Unless You're Helping Them Up

Why am I asking you for a donation during such a challenging time? There are SO MANY OVERWHELMING needs and struggles induced by this pandemic. Many appear in the news and are very apparent on people’s faces and with their actions. Others are hidden behind face masks (whether real or figurative) and their very being and livelihood is threatened by evil powers that we, looking at them from the outside, can neither see nor understand. All of our states of mental health seem to be compromised due to fear, anxiety, uncertainty, financial burdens, family issues, work events and crucially, the isolation and lack of human touch/connection both physically and emotionally. The very natural act of socializing with family, friends, co-workers and neighbors has come to a screeching halt and hasn’t reemerged as we knew it and quite frankly, it's stressful - nothing is "normal".

All of that to say, substance abuse and prescription misuse have always been an issue; however, now more than ever people are turning their back on recovery and are resorting to the addictive crutches that propped up their lives so many times before. My family member that I’ve written about during my previous years’ campaigns is still clean and doing great … Thank you Lord (and LRADAC counseling services)! However, my heart is broken because I have lost one high school friend, one church friend, and several at work have lost their parents during the last couple of months. Were their deaths COVID-19 related? Were they from accidental overdoses? Did they take their own lives? Their causes of death aren’t for me to share here but think how many lives YOU might can save by making a small contribution to LRADAC to provide necessary and much needed treatment to those in the very depths of personal despair . . . those whose recovery resolve is wavering . . . those whose life is in jeopardy and have finally convinced themselves that they have a problem way bigger than they can handle on their own.

My company does a really special tribute when a member of our work family passes away. We position one digger derrick truck and one bucket truck on each side of the highway somewhere along the funeral procession route and suspend a United States flag from the booms where they meet in midair. You will notice in my profile picture that the bucket is empty to symbolize a loss. Please help me keep the losses from alcohol and opioid abuse from happening. Help me keep the LRADAC MOMS (Maternal Outreach Management Services) going that insures recovering addicts get prenatal treatment during their pregnancy and deliver healthy drug-free babies. There’s never a good time to ask for money but many lives depend on your looking out for others you may or may not ever know. Be that person who pays it forward!

September is Recovery Month (and my birthday month!) and that normally means, as a Foundation Board Member, I sit in a rocking chair around town raising awareness of our purpose and help to organize a Rock for Recovery Concert. Since that can’t happen this year due to COVID-19, let’s still be rock stars for this worthy cause because the fight is real, especially now. Thanks in advance for your generosity and blessings to you all!