Framingham FORCE To Place Purple Flags on Centre Common In Memory of Lives Lost in Opioid Epidemic | Framingham Source

Originally published in Framingham Source on August 19, 2021.

FRAMINGHAM – Framingham FORCE will remember the more than 2,000 lives lost in 2020 due to the opioid epidemic by placing purple flags on the Framingham Centre Common.

Flags will be available at Friday night’s Concert on the Framingham Centre Common for people to place. People will have the opportunity to personalize a flag to remember a loved one who died of an overdose in any year, any state.

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 is International Opioid Overdose Awareness Day. FORCE plans to place all of their flags by August 31.

“For the last three years, Framingham FORCE has placed purple flags on the Framingham Centre Common to remember those members of our community who lost their lives to substance use disorder,,” said Cathy Miles, Board Chair and Co-Founder of Framingham FORCE. “This past year has been hard with COVID-19, especially for those with substance use disorder. In Framingham, we saw the number of opioid overdose deaths hit a six year high.”

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, state wide deaths rose by 5%, with 2035 people dying from substance use disorder in 2020.

Framingham FORCE is a group of local Framingham advocates and community members focused on increasing awareness, education and compassion surrounding the opioid epidemic.