Somber gathering in Arlington Heights marks International Overdose Awareness Day

Friends and family who've lost loved ones to substance abuse and drug overdoses gathered Thursday in North School Park in Arlington Heights to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.

The day represents an international effort not only to eliminate overdose deaths, but also to remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.

The theme for 2023 was "Recognizing those people who go unseen."

The gathering was sponsored by Live4Lali, the Arlington Heights-based substance abuse advocacy group. The event featured speakers and the reading of names of those who died. Naloxone training and fentanyl test strips also were available.

Live4Lali co-founder Chelsea Laliberte Barnes, whose brother Alex Laliberte died of a heroin overdose, said International Overdose Awareness Day is important to everyone.

"There is a big part of a lot of humanity that is in denial that it can happen to them," she said.