Spotlight on Osage County: Crisis Heroin, Meth and Our Kids

177 community members, including elected officials, school administration, teachers, business leaders and families came out to the community center to hear a presentation on drug abuse in Osage County.

Jim Marshall, retired teacher and parent, was on hand to present his very personal story about his son’s drug addiction. Mr. Marshall’s presentation galvanized the audience with its intensity and compassion. He shared statistics, and backed those up with personal reflections that made a lasting impact.

Some of those statistics were disturbing in fact, in particular, one teen every 12 minutes dies from a drug overdose. You could have heard a pin drop in this very large room that was filled with people, it was remarked over and over how raptly the audience was listening to Mr. Marshall. His presentation inspired people to recognize and commit to stopping drug abuse in our community now.

Just one comment from the evening, posted on our social media page…. “A HUGE thank you to everyone who made this evening’s event possible! Coach Marshall was phenomenal Looking forward to seeing what the people of Osage County, working alongside our local law enforcement and the Narcotics Taskforce, can do to make the OC Drug Free!!!”

I don’t know any better endorsement than that. Truly, Jim Marshall is an inspired speaker, and elicits the same in his audience. We will be forever grateful to him for kicking off our campaign.