Every year hundreds come together with candles in hand and heads bowed in sorrow and understanding. One by one parents, friends, doctors, policemen, and relatives tell their stories of losing loved ones to drug overdose.
After the tragic loss of her son, Laura Sarah founded The Candlelight Vigil. For Sarah we can only assume that losing her own flesh and blood was one of the hardest things to have to go through. It is always said that a mother should never have to bury her child. With his death though came determination, power, and will to move on. Her goal is to educate the community about the buying and selling of drugs and how it can affect young adults negatively.
Every October, NOPE (Narcotic Overdose Prevention and Education) holds a program in the center of Largo Central Park in Pinellas County to help educate others on the severity of using drugs.
Candles are past out and lit at the end, each one signifying support and understanding of those who have died. The ceremony only lasts about an hour, but in that time many stricken faces approach the podium to tell their stories of how drugs have whisked away the lives of people that they have loved. Tears are shed and hands are held as the crowd takes in the horrific and saddening tales of death. Some community members even huddle together afterwards to whisper words of prayer and understand that they are not alone.
This will be the fourth year the Candlelight Vigil will have been held. The SADD club at PHUHS is participating in the event, spreading the word to other students and even creating shirts to wear to the program. Sarah wants other teenagers to learn from her son’s mistakes and everyone involved in the program wishes to lessen the number of teens in the community that die from drug overdose.
“Constantly kids are dying,” says SRO Deputy Cutitta.
Deputy Cutitta is one of the major sponsors of the Candlelight Vigil here at the school and is a part of helping with the SADD club. He and the members go to show support for the program’s cause in recognition of our school.
“If you support it, go. Anyone can come,” Cutitta said.
He encourages students to join the afflicting cause. He and the SADD members went with their matching shirts and attended the event on October 25th.
“It’s a good program. It hopefully causes everyone to recognize drug problems,” Deputy Cutitta said. “Most crimes are committed by drugs; either under the influences of drugs or stealing money to go buy drugs. A lot of people commit crimes because of them.”
Drugs are a big problem in today’s society and play a huge role and influence in teenager’s lives. “Be above the influence,” is a phrase repeated over and over again by anti-drug groups. Saying no to drugs in the beginning is your best bet, and that’s one thing the Candlelight Vigil tries to promote. If you say no from the start, you hopefully won’t show up in the news as the next overdose victim