Fields of purple flags throughout Mass. depict International Overdose Awareness Day

Communities throughout the state are holding vigils and other events today to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. Massachusetts has recorded more than 2,000 opioid-related overdose fatalities each year since 2016, including 2,125 last year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

There will be a sunrise vigil at Scituate Lighthouse, a night of remembrance in Bridgewater and a ceremony of remembrance in Quincy, among a bevy of other programs featuring Bay Staters directly impacted by the opioid epidemic.

More than 22,000 purple flags have been planted on Boston Common signifying the toll of the opioid crisis over the past decade.

'It really does hit anyone': New recovery center in Milford named for late soccer star

In Framingham, members of Framingham FORCE— a group of advocates and community members focused on increasing awareness, prevention and compassion surrounding the opioid epidemic — led an effort to place more than 2,000 flags on the Village Green at Framingham Centre earlier this month to represent the number of opioid deaths in Massachusetts last year.

There were 24 opioid-related deaths last year in the city, according to Director of Public Health Bill Murphy.

Milford to host event in honor of Overdose Awareness Day

Milford will host an event from 1-4 p.m. at Chris’ Corner, 12 Main St. (Route 16), to show support for those who have passed but also those who have survived a substance-related overdose. There will be speakers, a table with pictures of those who have passed from an overdose, resources and groups for friends, family and loved ones.

Chris' Corner is a resource recovery center named for Chris Swindell, a former star soccer player at Milford High School who died at age 29 of an overdose in July 2018.

“By coming together to remember those we have lost, we stand together to say that more needs to be done to end overdose in our communities” said Amy Leone, owner of Community Impact Inc., which among other services, works to fight the opioid epidemic in the area, in a prepared statement. “We encourage members of the Greater Milford area with lived experience to come to our event and to stand in solidarity with the men and women who have been personally affected by overdose.”

In Franklin, a vigil will begin at 6 p.m. at the Town Common.

“The opioid epidemic has dramatically changed how we think about prescribing practices, family medication history, and the power and role of pharmaceutical companies,” said Jennifer Knight-Levine, CEO and co-founder of the SAFE Coalition, a nonprofit committed to judgment-free support for substance-abuse prevention, in a statement. “But it has most directly broken families and torn apart communities. This vigil is really a community formed to honor and remember those who have passed from an overdose.”

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: MA communities plant purple flags International Overdose Awareness Day