Nonprofit group handing out free naloxone kits at Governors Ball

3 months ago 13

QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- The Governors Ball Music Festival is well underway at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.

Around 120,000 people will attend the three-day festival throughout the weekend. One group is also there with the goal of keeping people safe.

Ingela Travers-Hayward and her husband Willam Perry started the nonprofit This Must be the Place three years ago. The group is at the festival handing out free naloxone kits to help prevent deaths related to drug overdoses.

“Fentanyl is really bad. People know it’s really bad, but not a lot of people have the tools to prevent an overdose situation," Travers-Hayward said.

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The duo travels around the county handing out naloxone kits at music festivals. Perry, a recovering addict, started the group from his own experience.

“He lost so many friends because something like naloxone didn’t exist or wasn’t readily available, so now that it is, his thought is let’s get out there and pass as much as we can," Travers-Hayward said.

This is the second year the nonprofit has set up shop at Governors Ball. The festival said it is proud to partner with the group to increase education.

“We strive to continually update and evolve our safety and security protocols, which includes education and preventative measures to keep people safe," Governors Ball said in a statement. "With this in mind, we are partnering with This Must Be the Place, an overdose prevention nonprofit, who will educate music fans about the dangers of Fentanyl and supply them with the life-saving opioid reversal medicine, Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. We encourage fans to stop by their booth at Buckingham Fountain to learn more.”

Many festivalgoers who got a naloxone kit said it was not for themselves, but just in case they come across someone who needs help this weekend.

“A big part of the culture is getting drugs from people you don’t know," said Katie Stephens, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn. "Music connects people and they’re like 'here I have this' and you automatically feel like you can trust them, and maybe you can, but they don’t always know what’s in their own stuff.”

Abigail Hall, a festivalgoer, added, “Even if you don’t support people doing drugs, that’s fine, but the opportunity to save someone’s life is important.”

Travers-Hayward agrees. She said an overdose can happen to anyone, with many drugs being laced.

"This stuff is being used on someone who did a line of cocaine that had fentanyl in it ... to someone who is a regular opioid user," Travers-Hayward said.

“Don't assume it can’t happen to someone you know, even if they trust their dealer, even if it comes from someone they know or love. People aren’t taking these drugs to overdose, but it might just happen.”

Travers-Hayward said the group will be at the festival until Sunday evening when the festival culminates. She plans to distribute 1,400 kits.

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