
HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Helping to Raise Awareness
We have been contacted by many bereaved families and community members who have expressed interest in helping to raise awareness about fentanyl and fake pills. Wonderful! Thank you for offering to help with this important cause. How you can help depends on many things, including your interests and skills. Below is a list of things you can do to raise awareness. As you decide what you’d like to do, consider these few tips:
-
Do what you are comfortable with and what fits your skills. If you are good at public speaking and connecting with kids, you may be good at speaking in front of a group of kids. If you have an interest in finding justice for victims, you may want to focus on legislation. If you follow your heart, you will have more stamina for the work.
-
If you’ve personally been affected by the opioid epidemic, don’t feel obligated to share all the details of your story if you are not comfortable with it. Honor your feelings and share just what feels right to you.
-
Pace yourself. Consider choosing just one or two areas to focus on. These activities are time consuming and can be emotionally draining. It is going to take a long time to fix this issue, and you can always pick up another area of interest at a later time if you’d like.
Song for Charlie is passionate about talking to kids where they are & in their language, so most of our suggestions are youth focused and sometimes parent oriented. That noted, all efforts to raise awareness are useful.
If you run across any examples of people that are doing things right, please share them with us… schools that are implementing programs, county programs, media stories & interviews, news articles, etc.
Song for Charlie hosts monthly awareness meetings for anyone wanting to raise awareness in their communities. For more information, click here.
Do you have ideas on how to get involved?
-
IntroA little time planning can go a long way and give you much more success than just forwarding a mail or a link. Think through these topics and be sure to do your research.
-
Educate yourselfMake sure you have a good understanding of what is happening with the drug landscape in America with the introduction of fentanyl so you are able to competently and confidently speak to the issues. Some good resources: The Fentapill Problem: A Summary Parent Resources
-
Personal StoryAre you a bereaved parent yourself or have a close friend or family member who is? Personal stories have huge impact. Think about if and how you want to tell that story as part of this effort in a way that makes the impact you are looking for and respects your child and family. Decide what aspects of your story you are not willing to share or are not important to the main message.
-
Local NewsLocate one or more relatively recent news stories from your own community or those nearby (google ‘fentanyl’ and your city or state). The more current and specific the story is about age, Fentapills, social media, etc., the better. Save these web links.
-
DataFind key data points and information about fentanyl/fentapills from reputable places that support the idea that this is needed in your community. If you can access local data and information through your local health department or law enforcement, that is ideal. Also be on the lookout for specific data points in local news articles. Songforcharlie.org is a good place for national numbers. Here are some links that can help you find national and state insights: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm#dashboard https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00438.asp https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/analysis.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/synthetic/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00395.asp https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-summaries-by-state
-
Existing curriculumIf your school district publishes their learning standards and/or curriculum, find out what is already included on this topic. If you have a teacher contact that teaches health curriculum, they can help you find this. It can be helpful if you know the specific learning standard/target you are trying to influence (i.e.: “Educate students on the social and health impacts of misuse of controlled substances”). If you can get your hands on classroom content, it is helpful to know if it specifically covers fake pills that can easily bought on social media so you know if there is a gap in the existing curriculum being taught in your schools.
