WAVERLY, Ohio — The Pike County Quick Response Team will hold its second annual Love Locks Memorial on Thursday, inviting families who have lost loved ones to overdose to add a heart-shaped lock to a permanent memorial fence outside the Waverly Police Department.
The community remembrance and overdose awareness event runs from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday in the police department’s parking lot at 71 N. Market St., according to a flyer posted by the department. The QRT describes itself as a community partnership dedicated to responding to overdose incidents and mental health crises with compassion, prevention and safety, while connecting individuals and families to treatment and ongoing support.
Each lock placed on the chain-link fence represents a life lost to a preventable overdose, according to a plaque the QRT has mounted at the memorial site. In a Facebook post promoting Thursday’s event, the department thanked volunteer Jordan Miller for donating his time to pour a new concrete footer for the plaque, a project that will give the growing display of locks a permanent base.
Guest speaker Heather Kouns is scheduled to address attendees, and the event will include speakers sharing their own recovery stories along with community members offering testimonials of hope and strength, according to the flyer. Free food and beverages will be served, and organizers plan to have educational materials and safety supplies available on site.
The event is presented with support from the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, American Legion Merritt Post 142, Workforce and Business Development, Transitions and the Paint Valley ADAMH Board, according to the flyer. Kroger, Walmart, Rural King and Beast & Bottle BBQ are listed as community sponsors. Mission partners include Pike County Probation, The Recovery Council, Equitas Health, Focus Residential, the Waverly Fire Department and the Pike County Health District.
The flyer credits the Pike County Drug Court, The Recovery Council’s Men’s Transitional Program and Focus Residential Services for providing volunteers to help set up, support and clean up the event, which is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Waverly Police Department.
