Many showed up to honor the thousands who no longer could and to fight for the unknowable number of lives yet to be forever altered by fentanyl and other synthetic opioid overdoses.
On the morning of Sept. 20, families directly affected by the fentanyl and opioid epidemic as well as those who support them gathered around the country for the first nationwide Walk for Lives event hosted by nonprofit United Against Fentanyl (UAF).
Walks in approximately 100 cities around the US were organized by families who have lost loved ones. Each walk featured speeches by affected family members and supportive community leaders and organizations.
The goal was to bring life-saving awareness to the issue while providing education and resources to help communities be better prepared to face the ongoing battle against illicit drugs like fentanyl and nitazenes, which are the latest high-potency synthetic opioids being laced into drugs. The walks also sought to create networks and partnerships with public and private organizations.
In a video posted to YouTube, UAF founder Paul E. Martin speaks from the heart to describe the purpose behind his nonprofit: “Experts agree, losing a child creates the greatest form of emotional pain. And today, approximately 1 million parents grieve the loss of their child to fentanyl. This is beyond comprehension. Many today feel despair and hopeless.”
Walk for Lives is just one of UAF’s many initiatives to help mobilize communities around a unified goal: a call for change regarding the availability of fentanyl in communities.
Sporting red, black and gray t-shirts, FFF Enterprises teammates were privileged to join the fight against fentanyl by hosting a tent for the company’s ODRescue™ (ODR) product line — offering on-demand emergency tool kits and opioid- and anaphylactic shock-reversal medications — and participating in the San Diego-area walk to show support for UAF’s efforts to drive change. Fox 5 San Diego was on hand to cover the event.
The tent featured the ODR Box and Pouch as well as materials highlighting the ways its products are helping to save lives. Walk for Lives participants could add the names of those for whom they were walking on a mosaic honoree board. They also could assemble friendship bracelets with ODR colors as a symbol of remembrance and unity.
Walk for Lives organizers stressed the importance of carrying naloxone-based products to help aid in the fight against fentanyl and other drugs. However, sadness remained for those whose lives were lost before the rise in availability of naloxone-based products. Many of the walks featured posters with pictures of lost lives.
But there is hope. As Martin pointed out, “history teaches us that we have the power to change things. This starts when ordinary people refuse to accept what is unacceptable. And when they roll up their sleeves and when they unify around a call for change. Those who founded this nation didn’t merely crave freedom; they created it through organized action and resolve.”
The CDC states that there were an estimated 80,391 US drug overdose deaths in 2024, which is almost a 27 percent decrease in deaths from 2023 (110,037 estimated deaths). Overdose deaths involving fentanyl were estimated at 76,282 in 2023. That number was reduced to 48,422 estimated deaths in 2024. While the widespread distribution of naloxone is cited as one factor helping with the decrease, overdose still remains the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 44.
“The overdose epidemic has been going on now for many years. The synthetic illicit drugs are getting stronger and stronger,” said Patrick M. Schmidt, chief executive officer of FFF Enterprises. “If you happen to be exposed unwittingly to fentanyl or nitazene, you have about four minutes before you need a rescue medication.”
Added Schmidt: “There are no recreational drugs. You can’t dabble in drugs because you have no idea what’s in them. It’s that serious.”
Together, we have the power to effect positive change. “Because isolation kills hope, but unity brings promise,” Martin said in the video. “United Against fentanyl, we believe we can bring the change that’s so desperately needed.”
United Against Fentanyl plans to make Walk for Lives an annual event.
To view more photos from the event and to learn more about its passionate mission, visit ODR on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
