Friday, June 13, 2025
Town of Hempstead officials and Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced a free Fentanyl Crisis Seminar & Not My Child Program during a press conference on Friday at the YES Community Counseling Center in Levittown.
The seminar will take place on Wednesday, June 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Nathan L.H. Bennett Pavilion at Hempstead Town Hall, located at 1 Washington Street in Hempstead. Visitor parking is available behind the building at Peninsula Boulevard and Greenwich Street.
Donnelly was joined by Town Supervisor Don Clavin, Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, Councilman Dennis Dunne, County Legislator John Ferretti, Town Clerk Kate Murray, and Adrienne LoPresti, executive director of YES Community Counseling Center.
"Fentanyl is one of the most powerful and lethal drugs that we have ever seen here in Nassau County," Donnelly said, "and my office is doing everything in its power to combat this crisis and educate the public."
The event will provide parents, educators, and residents with information about prevention, education, treatment, and recovery. Experts will also discuss the link between vaping, fentanyl, and the rise in teen overdoses. The program builds on the town’s Narcan training forums, which offer overdose response training and distribute life-saving kits.
“Everybody knows the impact fentanyl has had in our communities, and fentanyl abuse and drug abuse in particular,” Clavin said. “But fentanyl abuse knows no boundaries. It does not have a monetary boundary. It doesn’t have a community boundary.”
Donnelly is expected to share stories of addiction and its toll on families. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, nearly 100,000 people die from drug overdoses each year. Fentanyl accounted for 70 percent of overdose deaths in 2022.
