Friday, October 2, 2026
In what has become a community tradition, residents gathered at Schoolhouse Green on Aug. 27 for the Oceanside SAFE Coalition’s fifth annual Overdose Awareness Day — an evening of remembrance, outreach and practical training that mixed quiet ritual with urgent calls for drug abuse prevention.
The event started with volunteers, and members of the Oceanside Community Warriors — who clean up outdoor spaces around town, among other efforts — planting clusters of purple flowers to commemorate the lives lost to overdoses. Volunteers painted memorial messages on rocks and filled the green with conversation, amid the strains of live music by Charlie Riecker.
Among the attendees were Assemblywoman Judy Griffin and Hempstead Town Councilwoman Laura Ryder.
Organizers hosted free Narcan training, led by Dr. David Neubert, of Mount Sinai South Nassau, who told the crowd that the nasal naloxone spray is a simple, lifesaving tool.
“I started as an EMT in 1995 — it’s my 30th year as EMS working out through the field, and we do want people using Narcan,” Neubert said. “It’s good that we have access to Narcan. There are lots of other things we’ve got to fix, but at least access to Narcan is not one of them.”
In 2023, more than 650 Long Islanders died of drug overdoses, according to the Family & Children’s Association, a nonprofit organization that provides help and hope to Long Island’s most vulnerable people. There was a 77 percent increase in overdose death from 2013 to 2017, mostly due to a rise in fentanyl use. While 2024 numbers have trended down, there is a concern that federal cuts to drug programs will erase recent gains in treatment and recovery.
The SAFE Coalition regularly surveys local shops, and reports vendors that appear to be selling prohibited or mislabeled THC products which are banned within the hamlet, but enforcement is inconsistent — the group often requests follow-up from the Nassau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct to ensure that reported violations are corrected.
“We were actually talking about having some assistance with funding or increasing support for the 4th Precinct for compliance checks,” said Oceanside SAFE Coalition project coordinator Ali Eriksen said. “(Oceanside) opted out under the Town of Hempstead to not sell THC products, so a lot of the vape shops should be following suit. We’re lucky if we can get one good compliance check a year.”
Oceanside SAFE receives support through a federal Drug-Free Communities grant that will expire in 2029, and Eriksen warned that legal but risky products also pose potential problems.
“Kratom is flying under the radar — it’s literally plastered everywhere locally on Long Beach Road,” she said. Kratom is an herbal substance derived from a Southeast Asian tree that can produce both stimulant and opioid-like effects. Its sale has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the agency warns against its use due to risks of dependence, abuse and other serious health problems.
The SAFE Coalition event highlighted the growing, grassroots nature of the overdose awareness movement. Dozens of students, parents, teachers and local officials — joined the activities, and many stayed to join conversations about treatment and support services. The Kiwanis Club of Oceanside helped organize the event, along with Dees’ Nursery & Florist, Mount Sinai South Nassau and the Oceanside Library.
Two new members of Oceanside SAFE, Lori Martin, 72, a retired nurse, and her friend and fellow nurse, Gina McCarthy, 62, both from Long Beach, shared how their losses brought them to the green. Their stories echoed a grim truth organizers repeated throughout the evening: Overdose can touch any family.
Martin lost her son, Derrick, three and a half years ago, she said, when he relapsed after being in rehab. He was 36 when he died, she told attendees.
“He was sober for almost a year and a half, and he relapsed,” Martin said. “My life is now divided into before and after. Nothing is safe. Nothing — not even one pill is safe.”
McCarthy described her daughter Kyla’s long run of pain and prescriptions after a violent car accident at 16 in which she was severely injured, followed by years of surgeries and lingering pain. Her daughter was 35 when she died.
“She was in pain all the time,” McCarthy said. “She managed to get to college, she managed to work, got to college, and she got married. She was too proud to admit that she had a problem. The perception of substance use disorder has to change to a disease. It doesn’t discriminate.”
Both women stressed the need for school-based drug-abuse prevention, earlier education and more outreach in Long Beach and neighboring communities.
“We’ve got to get into schools,” McCarthy said. “Apparently, schools are very hesitant to have people come and speak.”
Event organizers and family members also emphasized a darker reality: illicit pills and other street drugs are increasingly laced with fentanyl and other contaminants such as xylazine, making overdoses more lethal and sometimes complicating attempts to reverse them. The personal stories that were shared on the green reinforced calls for prevention and enforcement.
Martin and McCarthy said that joining Oceanside SAFE was not only part of their grieving, but also a way to try to prevent other families from suffering similar losses.
“I want to prevent any other young person from overdosing — even one,” Martin said.
Those interested in volunteering or sponsorship can contact Oceanside SAFE at info@oceansidesafe.org.
