On April 28, Oswego County hosted their 6th annual SAFE Fair (Substance Awareness Family Education Fair) at the Oswego Elks Lodge.

Local organizations set up tables to educate the community on the dangers of substance abuse. Some of these organizations included Farnham, YC3, COCOA, and DARE.

New Vision students also had tables set up with health and wellness activities with a calming theme. Some of these stations included adult coloring pages and creating a colorful and glittery jar of warm liquids that is supposed to instill a relaxing and calming sensation into someone.

There was also Narcan training for all ages and the participants were able to bring home their own packs of Narcan to use if they come across a possible case of an overdose. What is so reassuring about Narcan is that if it is administered to someone who is not overdosing they will not experience any ill side effects.

Karyn Grow, a Narcan trainer, explained that opioid abuse is at an extremely high rate in Oswego County to the extent that it has started to be called an “opioid epidemic”. She expressed that it is very important for as many people as possible to become trained in Narcan usage to prevent overdosing and save peoples’ lives.

Alyssa Morley is a junior at Oswego High School who received the training and explained that it is a very important life skill to have, especially when going to parties where opioid abuse may be a prevalent problem.

YC3 (Youth Creating Change Coalition) is one of the youth groups against substance abuse. Carlie Morley, affiliate of Farnham Family Services and leader of YC3, described the group as students from all across Oswego County that discusses current drug abuse problems they see in their schools and then take actions to alleviate and prevent these problems.