Menifee resident Gwendolyn Schrank has a saying. While it applies in a lot of scenarios — which is why she likes it so much — it felt especially salient at United Against Fentanyl’s (UAF) “Walk for Lives” Temecula event on July 11, organized by FFF Enterprises’ ODRescue™.
“Look at somebody and say, ‘We’re gonna save lives today.’ Yeah, say it louder. ‘We’re gonna save some lives today!’ That is why we are here. We need to each one, reach one,” Schrank implored from a stage at the Promenade Temecula mall to approximately 100 attendees — advocates, bereaved family members, and business owners looking to support one another and raise collective community awareness in the fight against fentanyl and opioid overdoses.
The Temecula walk was held alongside more than 100 community walks across the country for the nationwide initiative. ODRescue™ — which provides readily accessible, technologically advanced overdose emergency toolkits for bystanders that underscore that every second counts — realized the importance of providing another local walk after hosting a booth at a San Diego-area walk for last year’s inaugural event.
Saturday’s Temecula “Walk for Lives” event featured a half-mile walk around the mall as well as local speakers and vendors looking to connect with the community about a cause that can affect anyone, any time.
In a press release, UAF said an estimated 9,000 people participated in the July 11 walks. The second-annual event was held in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Fentanyl Free America initiative.
Schrank, the outreach coordinator for Lake Elsinore-based recovery organization The Happier Life Project, often uses the phrase “each one, reach one” to illustrate how small steps can lead to meaningful change.
“We have to bloom where we’re planted. As long as we can love one more person, teach one more person about fentanyl, then it doesn’t seem like as big of an issue to see change,” she said. “And that’s for everything honestly. Everything is for love. Each one, love another person.”
By the Numbers
Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that deaths from drug overdoses decreased for a third consecutive year in 2025.
Overall drug overdoses decreased from 81,313 estimated deaths in 2024 to 69,973 in 2025 in the US — a 14 percent drop. Overdoses involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl decreased from 48,913 deaths in 2024 to 38,084 in 2025.
While most states saw decreases in 2025, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico had increases of 10 percent or more compared to the previous year.
ODRescue and many others operate with the idea that even one life lost to overdose is one too many.
Hitting Home
Temecula resident Matt Capelouto of Stop Drug Homicide attended the July 11 Temecula walk to show support as well as speak about his experience losing his daughter Alexandra to fentanyl poisoning.
Capelouto said Alexandra was a Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) student from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“We need to continue educating the community. There’s still so many people out there that really aren’t aware of this danger,” Capelouto said. “This was such a good event to help make the community aware of what’s going on, and I hope it grows.”
Ending Stigma, Saving More Lives
On a personal level, Schrank said it was important for her to help with Saturday’s walk since she’s dedicated her life’s work to serving the community and helping kids, many of whom she knows experienced overdoses.
Despite her efforts to educate and put lifesaving naloxone in people’s hands, she’s found that stigma around overdoses remains. Schrank feels that getting innovative, creating more educational programs, inspiring youth to get involved, and hosting events like Walk for Lives will eventually help people see the bigger picture of saving lives.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. We have to get to that point where the conversation is as normal as CPR. It has to change,” she said. “They have to see the message [i.e. that naloxone is going to save a life] over and over and over again.”
While reflecting on seeing walkers carrying images of lost family members at Saturday’s walk, Schrank broke down into tears. Visuals like this, she believes, will help reduce stigma and get to the heart of the issue.
“The walk was wonderful. Seeing people and families carrying their loved one’s photos was very powerful. We need to bring back the humanity of it,” she said. “I think with events like that, it brings back the humanity and empathy.”
UAF will be holding a “Walk for Lives DC” event in Washington D.C. on Sept. 26 later this year. RSVP and learn more here.
