A “Ceremony of Remembrance” and candlelight vigil will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26, in Rockville to memorialize lives lost to overdose or substance use. The ceremony, which will be hosted by NBC4 news anchor Doreen Gentzler, commemorates International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event, and is aimed at raising awareness of overdose and reducing the stigma of drug related deaths.
The event will be held. at Memorial Plaza, located at 101 Monroe Street, on the terrace between Executive Office Building and the Circuit Court building. A resource fair featuring substance use prevention and treatment information will be held at 6 p.m. Family members and friends will remember loved ones and light candles in their honor.
Among those also scheduled to attend the event are Congressman Jamie Raskin and State Delegate Kirill Reznick.
Songs related to loss and hope will be performed by local musician Tom Blood, accompanied by bass guitarist Chris Marsh.
At the event, the Montgomery County Collaboration Council will launch the video, “Remembering with Love,” featuring mothers paying tribute to loved ones lost to drugs/substances contaminated with fentanyl. Since 2016, more than 60 percent of overdose fatalities in the County have been related to fentanyl.
The opioid epidemic and the disease of substance use disorder have been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis. In Montgomery County, opioid overdose deaths increased by 29 percent in 2020 from the previous year.
Those wishing to have a loved one memorialized in a commemorative photo display can submit a photo (an individual photo with no one else in the photo) to
https://montgomerycountymd.seamlessdocs.com/f/IOADSOUL2021 The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, Aug. 24. The outdoor exhibit of photos will be on display through Sept. 30.
The Ceremony of Remembrance will be hosted by S.O.U.L. (Surviving Our Ultimate Loss), in partnership with Montgomery County, the Circuit Court’s Adult Drug Court, the City of Rockville and the Collaboration Council. S.O.U.L. is a grief peer support group comprised of mothers and their families who have lost a child to substance use.
Free parking for the event will be available in the jury parking lot located at the corner of East Jefferson and Monroe Streets.
For more information about the event, email soul2021ioad@gmail.com or call 301-514-3546.
