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B.C. funeral home hopes to curb overdoses with new youth program

A lower mainland funeral home is hoping to launch a student-oriented fentanyl awareness campaign next year. (File photo). File/Courtesy B.C. RCMP

A B.C. funeral home says it’s seeing too many overdose victims every month.

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As a result, Alternatives Funeral and Cremation Services has put together a fentanyl prevention program.

“Overdose deaths, we see about five to seven a month or one or two a week and that’s ones we know,” said Abbotsford Funeral Director John Romeyn.

Romeyn said it all started with a conversation.

“I had a father say to me, ‘I was supposed to [be picking] out clothes for my daughter to wear for her graduation. Now I’m picking something to wear for her casket.'”
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That’s when it clicked, and the funeral company started working on a campaign aimed at students.

One poster for the talk reads, ‘Will fentanyl be the reason for our next family gathering?’

“The average guy’s kid who wakes up in the morning and finds his 20-year-old dad in bed, those are the stories we are seeing on a regular basis.”

“We’ve dealt with pastor’s children, and lawyer’s kids, and everyday people that are out there… either experimenting or the casual user who isn’t aware of what’s out there,”

The company’s campaign includes a presentation, speakers from local police, and families of people who have died of overdoses.

It also includes a casket and hearse.

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Romeyn hopes to run start presenting the campaign next year at schools, church youth groups, and community centres.

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