Finding Hope, Healing, and Inner Peace: Family Members, Supporters Meet for Overdose Awareness Day

Community members and families recently gathered for the ninth annual Overdose Awareness Day Delaware, an event that was both a solemn memorial and a vibrant source of connection, hope, and healing for those walking a path of recovery.

Organized by Face the Facts Delaware, this year’s event brought together more than 125 vendors, local county and city support, food trucks, and first responders, according to Becky Eppig, chair of the event and a founding board member of Face the Facts Delaware.

International Overdose Awareness day is held on Aug. 31 each year to support families who have lost loved ones and remember those whose lives were cut short. This year’s event in Delaware took place at Delcastle Recreational Park in Wilmington on Sept. 12.

Remembering Loved Ones

Eppig told The Epoch Times that her drive to put together the annual event comes from a profound personal experience. Having lost her cousin DJ Nelson to an overdose after a decade-long battle with addiction and mental illness, Eppig stressed the importance of visible support.

“For me personally, if I could help save one life, I feel like sharing my cousin’s story is worth it,” Eppig said. She explained that fatal overdose numbers have been declining locally—from 523 in 2024 to 400 in 2025 and 300 the following year—yet sustained vigilance remains vital. 

Provisional data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that an estimated 69,973 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2025. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that fentanyl remained the leading cause of overdose deaths nationwide. Even a very small amount of fentanyl—just 2 milligrams, roughly the size of a few grains of sand—can cause a fatal overdose.

According to the GAO, most fentanyl trafficked into the United States comes from Mexico, while many of the chemicals used to manufacture the drug come from communist China.

“This event truly brings everyone together, so they know what resources are available,” Eppig said, highlighting a powerful dove release ceremony held in honor of departed loved ones. “It signifies a lot of amazing things, and to see them all fly together, it’s almost like all the people we’ve lost are together again.”

That emotional release was deeply felt by Carol Wootten, a restaurant manager who is raising three grandchildren after losing her 33-year-old daughter, Katie Sue, to fentanyl in 2022. Her granddaughters, aged 10 and 11, took part in releasing doves to remember their mother.

“Personally, just to release a dove that we’re thinking of her, we always love her, and we miss her. Just a kind of release something up to heaven,” Wootten told The Epoch Times.

Remembering Katie as a kind and giving caterer who loved her kids immensely, Wootten emphasized the need for early education and compassionate care.

“It is an epidemic, and I think its looked upon differently because it is drugs,” she said, adding that once people are addicted, they need help to get through, to recover, and get their mind right to be able to think about what to do next.

Earlene Golden, an early childhood teacher, attended the event to honor her son Nick, who passed away in 2019 at age 23 from a relapse involving fentanyl and cocaine. A former volunteer firefighter with Air Force aspirations, Nick was remembered by more than 500 attendees at his funeral.

“Stop thinking that it only happens to certain people. It can happen to anybody,” Golden told The Epoch Times, urging people to look past stereotypes.

“There’s no child that comes down and says, ‘Mom, Dad, I want to be a drug addict.’ There’s a reason behind it. I know my child had other dreams,” she said.

Among the participating groups, a Falun Gong booth offered visitors an opportunity to learn gentle exercises and meditation as tools for relaxation and emotional well-being.

Shirley Hu, a long-time Falun Gong practitioner of more than 20 years who volunteered at the booth, noted that the event highlighted the urgency of supporting people facing severe hardship.

“Numerous Falun Gong practitioners have successfully overcome their addictions,” she said, adding that the practice of Falun Gong allows people to embark on a new path of life.

Joseph Jackson, 84, came to the event to support grieving families. He described the movements as accessible and calming.

“It was amazing how little effort it takes to do the practice,” he said. “A lot of healing comes when you can totally relax.”

Jackson lost his daughter, a dedicated social worker with a master’s degree, to an overdose in 2020.

“The biggest reason I come here is to let people know there are a lot of others that have gone through what they do,” he said, adding that the welcoming atmosphere at the event was meaningful for him.