Boxing Fundraiser To Help Knock Out Opioid Abuse

Somerset County Group to Hold Boxing Fundraiser to Knock Out Opioid Abuse
Community in Crisis, a Somerset County prevention organization focused singularly on opioid addiction, will take its fight against the opioid epidemic into the ring October 7, when it will hold a boxing fundraiser in Manhattan.
Participants of the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Boxing Fundraiser will engage in a 45-minute boxing class. The event is a continuation of Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day, being held October 6 throughout the state of New Jersey.
"We hope that an event like this will appeal to the audience we're trying to attract - 18 - 30 year olds," commented Amanda Sabatelle, chair of the fundraiser. "Many of us live and work in New York City after enjoying a wonderful upbringing in suburbs like my hometown, Basking Ridge, and we are all personally connected to victims of this disease. It hits hard when you hear of yet another overdose death. As a volunteer for Community in Crisis, these fundraising events geared to young adults are my way of helping to bring addiction out of the shadows, and to reach out to those in pain with resources and support."
The statewide initiative mobilizes volunteers to distribute vital information about the potential for dependency on prescribed pain medicine and its link to heroin abuse rate. The effort will concentrates on informing physicians and residents about safer prescribing practices and the risks of prescription opioids.
Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day is a project of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey, in cooperation with the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Addiction Services; and the Community Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Morris, with help from thousands of volunteers across the state.
WHY: Opioid pain relievers that are abused are most often obtained via prescription from physicians, and users of prescription drugs are 40 times more likely to use heroin, according to the CDC. More than 33,000 people in the United States died of opioid overdoses in 2015, and the number of such deaths quadrupled from 1999 to 2015.
WHEN: 4 p.m. Saturday, October 7 (Participants will arrive at 3:30 p.m. to get hands wrapped.)
WHERE: OverThrow NYC GYM, 9 Bleeker St., New York, NY 10012
COST: $35
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To register, visit http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=vv9fz4yab&oeidk=a07eeluic4ece8fdf1f.

Contacts: Amanda Sabatelle, Community in Crisis, 908-672-4816, info@communityincrisis.orgMatt Birchenough, Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey, 201-916-1032, media@drugfreenj.org

Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $70 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception, the Partnership has garnered 166 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.