NORTHAMPTON — The cities of Northampton and Holyoke will commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day and honor the lives lost to overdose with an events on Thursday and Friday nights.
Northampton’s event and vigil will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. outside Forbes Library, 20 West St. The city-sponsored program is being organized by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Hampshire HOPE. It will be supported by a variety of community partners, including Tapestry Health, DART, Northampton Recovery Center, Learn To Cope, Northwest District Attorney David E. Sullivan, and more.
The event is a space to reflect, connect, share resources, and engage in mutual support with fellow community members. The 2025 theme for International Overdose Awareness Day is “One Big Family; Driven By Hope.” The day has been marked in communities worldwide since 2001, with events held during the last week of August with the goal of reducing stigma, increasing awareness of the prevalence of overdose deaths, and supporting those struggling with the disease.
The event will begin on the library lawn with resource tabling, Narcan training and distribution and community networking. At 7 p.m., the formal program will commence, featuring speakers affected by the opioid crisis, including the families and friends of those grieving the loss of a loved one, as well as people working in the field who also experience loss. The evening will conclude with a luminaria memorial. Refreshments and resources will be available.
For more information, contact Taylor McAndrew, director of prevention, at 413-587-1322 or by email at tmcandrew@northamptonma.gov.
In Holyoke, Hope for Holyoke will observe the day from 3 to 7 p.m. Resource tables, speakers, testimony and remembrance will take place in Veterans Park.
At 3 p.m., participants will gather on High Street outside City Hall. At 3:15, following opening remarks and a prayer by Pastor Kevin Whitacre of Church of the Valley, there will be a reading of a mayoral proclamation, and a recovery flag-raising.
The program will then resume at Veterans Park.