GREAT FALLS — The Alliance For Youth participated in two community events in Great Falls on Saturday.
The Montana Highway Patrol, Alliance For Youth, and Living Above The Influence Montana hosted a Prescription Drug Take Back event from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
People with unused or outdated medication were able to drop them off at the MHP office in Great Falls. The goal is to get prescription drugs out of home medicine cabinets where the majority of abused prescription drugs are often taken by friends or family members.
“We want to make it so that medications, prescriptions, over the counter, both, are not accessible by youth,” said Katherine Johnson, Montana Highway Patrol State Trooper. “We don’t want them to accidentally or intentionally get into them and potentially overdose, we want to save people and keep them healthy.”
Johnson says the Prescription Drug Take Back Event is an annual event in Great Falls, but anyone with unwanted medication in the meantime should contact the City-County Health Department or the Montana Highway Patrol.
Also on Saturday, at the Grace Home Veteran’s Center, the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force (MMIP) hosted an Indian Taco Fundraiser. The event was from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, with Indian Tacos and Fry Bread for sale. The money raised will be used by the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force.
“It’ll go towards awareness, we like to do PowerPoints, we like to go and do lectures, bring awareness, bring statistics, and it’s like, the more we bring awareness, the more people can be looking for things, the more people know that we represent the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, they know there’s eyes out there, you know. It also helps fund, we have a 1-800 line, it helps fund with that and we just switched to non-profit, so hopefully we’ll have some avenues for more funding,” said Lea Michelle Wetzel, chair of Victim Services for MMIP and instructor for Alliance For Youth.
Alliance For Youth and the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force has plans to host more Indian Taco fundraisers in the near future. To stay up to date on events and fundraisers, you can check out their website.
