Nic’s Hope - A Light for Life
Don protégé
By now I hope you have seen my recent posts for the event, Nic’s Hope - A Light for Life.
It’s time to get a bit personal with everyone...
Nicole is one of my best friends, we grew up nicknaming ourselves as Farmer Nic and Farmer Whit. I lost Nicole in September to complications from Heroin addiction.
Yes, losing a best friend sucks. I spent the month of October with a lump in my throat and my heart stuck in my stomach. What left me feeling weighted down the most was assuming defeat against this monstrous disease of addiction continuously taking over the lives of good people who were once a kid just as me.
I have beaten my brains out for years trying to back track where it all started, how things went so far south, and why to date I’ve lost 16 of my friends to addiction and suicide because they’re too far gone to believe that things get better and YOU CAN Recover.
I am not a drug addict.
I do not do drugs nor have I playfully attempted them.
Instead, I was the 17 year old making sure my friends made it home safe from parties.
I was the 18 year old who visited a friend for the first time in rehab while others were in college playing beer pong. I was the 19 year old who drove my best friend to the ER because her arm had swelled up to the size of a softball caused by injecting a dirty needle. I was the 20 year old who lost a friend to a heroine overdose for the first time. At 21, I was living on my own, working two jobs, going to college, and writing letters to my friends in jail... telling them the good I know that’s still in them, how much I love them, and the great person they’re capable of being once they’re out from behind bars. At 23 I drove friends to their NA meetings, helped them get to doctors appointments, and affirmed them into believing they were college worthy. By 24, I had been to 6 viewings or funerals and all of them being 6 feet under at that time was because of Addiction.
I am almost 31 years old now and over the last 6 years ten more friends are in the ground.
I have hugged their Moms as they’ve cried in my arms. I’ve stayed in touch with their siblings and close friends to make sure everyone stays the course. Most importantly, I’ve spent time with their children to see they go on in life knowing how much their parents loved them and that they never have to believe their worth is equal to any drug.
Every one of my friends wanted to get better. They wanted to live. None of them woke up ready to die. Them, just like me reading their bible in Sunday school. Them just like me, loving their parents. Them, just like me receiving their diploma. Them, just like me... hoping for something more.
I personally have had a long run in with depression, the loss of this many friends has made it harder on myself. But if my friends who are actively in Recovery today can get back up, so can I.
I am human, flawed as we all are. Just because I have not done drugs does not make me perfect. Those friends known as addicts never judged me for my imperfections and I chose to treat them with the same respect in return. Nic’s Hope-A Light for Life is not some event in honor of my best friend or a cheap way of politely asking for donations. This event is the start of a much needed organization planting itself in my hometown Hanover, PA.
I have taken it upon myself with the help of Nicole’s family and friends to build Nic’s Hope - A Light for Life into a nonprofit organization throughout YORK County, PA.
This organization will focus strictly on the lives of children and teenagers who are forever being altered by their parent’s addiction. Our goal is to help our youth get involved in extra curricular activities that in their normal circumstances may not be fortunate enough to participate in areas they wish to. We are hopeful that through this GoFundMe and other networking resources, we can become a nonprofit that works closely with CYS to provide proper therapy, group sessions, grief counseling and other healthcare outlets children and teenagers need. may We will encourage them through their schooling and raise funds for scholarships towards their college education. We will continue along side of them as long as it’s needed, so that they have better opportunities then what they would have had being raised by parents on drugs. I have seen this trend passed onto my friends from their parent’s issues with addiction and mental health. At a younger age then, there was no way out.
I am asking for your help and consideration towards donating to help make this nonprofit as affective and worthwhile for every child who lives with the guilt of their parents addiction.
No amount is too small and if you are unable to donate, my hope is that you’ll share this.
We are the adults and it’s our job to be there for children and youth, no matter what their situation is.
I genuinely appreciate your time in reading this, your willingness to help, and I look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday at Nic’s Hope - A Light for Life!
We will be hosting our kick-off event on June 1st at the Pleasant Hill Firehall Outdoor Grounds in Hanover, PA.
Please join us to educate, shed light, and come together to help all of those affected by this horrific disease, Addiction.
It’s time to get a bit personal with everyone...
Nicole is one of my best friends, we grew up nicknaming ourselves as Farmer Nic and Farmer Whit. I lost Nicole in September to complications from Heroin addiction.
Yes, losing a best friend sucks. I spent the month of October with a lump in my throat and my heart stuck in my stomach. What left me feeling weighted down the most was assuming defeat against this monstrous disease of addiction continuously taking over the lives of good people who were once a kid just as me.
I have beaten my brains out for years trying to back track where it all started, how things went so far south, and why to date I’ve lost 16 of my friends to addiction and suicide because they’re too far gone to believe that things get better and YOU CAN Recover.
I am not a drug addict.
I do not do drugs nor have I playfully attempted them.
Instead, I was the 17 year old making sure my friends made it home safe from parties.
I was the 18 year old who visited a friend for the first time in rehab while others were in college playing beer pong. I was the 19 year old who drove my best friend to the ER because her arm had swelled up to the size of a softball caused by injecting a dirty needle. I was the 20 year old who lost a friend to a heroine overdose for the first time. At 21, I was living on my own, working two jobs, going to college, and writing letters to my friends in jail... telling them the good I know that’s still in them, how much I love them, and the great person they’re capable of being once they’re out from behind bars. At 23 I drove friends to their NA meetings, helped them get to doctors appointments, and affirmed them into believing they were college worthy. By 24, I had been to 6 viewings or funerals and all of them being 6 feet under at that time was because of Addiction.
I am almost 31 years old now and over the last 6 years ten more friends are in the ground.
I have hugged their Moms as they’ve cried in my arms. I’ve stayed in touch with their siblings and close friends to make sure everyone stays the course. Most importantly, I’ve spent time with their children to see they go on in life knowing how much their parents loved them and that they never have to believe their worth is equal to any drug.
Every one of my friends wanted to get better. They wanted to live. None of them woke up ready to die. Them, just like me reading their bible in Sunday school. Them just like me, loving their parents. Them, just like me receiving their diploma. Them, just like me... hoping for something more.
I personally have had a long run in with depression, the loss of this many friends has made it harder on myself. But if my friends who are actively in Recovery today can get back up, so can I.
I am human, flawed as we all are. Just because I have not done drugs does not make me perfect. Those friends known as addicts never judged me for my imperfections and I chose to treat them with the same respect in return. Nic’s Hope-A Light for Life is not some event in honor of my best friend or a cheap way of politely asking for donations. This event is the start of a much needed organization planting itself in my hometown Hanover, PA.
I have taken it upon myself with the help of Nicole’s family and friends to build Nic’s Hope - A Light for Life into a nonprofit organization throughout YORK County, PA.
This organization will focus strictly on the lives of children and teenagers who are forever being altered by their parent’s addiction. Our goal is to help our youth get involved in extra curricular activities that in their normal circumstances may not be fortunate enough to participate in areas they wish to. We are hopeful that through this GoFundMe and other networking resources, we can become a nonprofit that works closely with CYS to provide proper therapy, group sessions, grief counseling and other healthcare outlets children and teenagers need. may We will encourage them through their schooling and raise funds for scholarships towards their college education. We will continue along side of them as long as it’s needed, so that they have better opportunities then what they would have had being raised by parents on drugs. I have seen this trend passed onto my friends from their parent’s issues with addiction and mental health. At a younger age then, there was no way out.
I am asking for your help and consideration towards donating to help make this nonprofit as affective and worthwhile for every child who lives with the guilt of their parents addiction.
No amount is too small and if you are unable to donate, my hope is that you’ll share this.
We are the adults and it’s our job to be there for children and youth, no matter what their situation is.
I genuinely appreciate your time in reading this, your willingness to help, and I look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday at Nic’s Hope - A Light for Life!
We will be hosting our kick-off event on June 1st at the Pleasant Hill Firehall Outdoor Grounds in Hanover, PA.
Please join us to educate, shed light, and come together to help all of those affected by this horrific disease, Addiction.
Organisateur
Whitney Utz
Organisateur
Hanover, PA
