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Changing the Game
in Opioid Prevention
JEAN HARDIMAN
“Be a game changer.”
That is the slogan of a new statewide collaborative initiative
launching in September to bring fresh awareness to the im-
portance of prevention, education, compassionate treatment
and employment opportunities when it comes to helping West
Virginians overcome the opioid crisis.
The organizations behind the initiative are the West Virginia
Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) and West
Virginia Department of Education and sponsors MVB Bank,
West Virginia University (WVU) and Marshall University.
Together, these groups are hoping every West Virginian will
play a role in changing the game, whether that is by mentoring
a young person, donating funds for prevention education,
supporting treatment programs or creating a scholarship to
help someone in recovery get a degree and secure a good job.
The initiative will kick off with two opioid awareness summit
events this fall. The first will take place on September 17 at the
WVU Coliseum in Morgantown and the second on September
18 at Marshall University’s Cam Henderson Center in Hun-
tington. Among the speakers at the events will be former NBA
30
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
player Chris Herren, who is in recovery from opioid addiction,
and author Rhonda Sciortino, who has an inspiring story of
overcoming a childhood of abuse, abandonment and poverty
while growing up in a household affected by addiction.
The summit events will target the Mountain State’s 150,000
middle and high school students. Approximately 7,000 high
school students will attend each summit, and the events will be
live streamed for middle school students and those high school
students unable to attend.
“The more education kids get about opioids, the less likely
they are to use them,” says Joe Boczek of JB Business Strategies
in Morgantown, who is coordinating this initiative for the
WVSSAC. “We’re hoping these events bring a huge awareness
to the problem we have and show we’re taking an aggressive
approach. The game really starts after these summits.”
According to WVSSAC Director Bernie Dolan, West Virginia
families need this initiative now more than ever. “Our stu-
dents need to have the resources to avoid being a statistic in
this crisis, and they need to know about the resources available
if they have family or friends affected by this crisis,” he says.