Ryan Channing Hicks Memorial Fund

Ryan was a Paulding County native and was one of the funniest people I knew.

I've started this Go Fund Me campaign in hopes of helping to cover funeral costs to give Ryan a proper burial and take some of the financial stress off the Hicks family during this difficult time. It costs a lot to die in this country, and it is sad and wrong. The average cost of a funeral in GA, without cemetery fees, is around $5000, which I've made the starting goal.

I also started this campaign to raise awareness about a massive problem in Paulding County.

Did you know that more than four times as many people died from drug overdose than from homicide in the first month of 2021? Preliminary reports indicate the number of drug overdose deaths in America increased by 29.6% in 2020. In January 2021, drug overdose deaths exceeded homicides by 306.7%. Big Pharma should be paying for these funerals. The opioid "crisis" has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in this country over the past two decades. (source drugabusestatistics.org)

Ryan had just turned 29 years old on March 13th. He was still so young; a life was taken too soon.

Addiction is an invisible disease, and in Paulding County, there is an epidemic.

Those who went to school with me have lost so many people we went to school with the last couple of years alone to drug overdose, at least 10. Honestly, I pray every day that I do not lose someone in my life who is an addict.

I'm asking those who have lost a loved one or a friend to addiction or love someone still trapped in the cycle of addiction to donate at least $1. Let this be a war cry for God to help our young people stay away from drugs, for addicts to be delivered from their addiction, and for those selling drugs to stop. Please share this post and say the prayer below with me if you cannot donate.

Please pray with me:

Holy Spirit,

We ask that you cover the Hicks family and anyone who has suffered an unnecessary loss due to addiction in your loving grace and comfort. We ask that You send an army of Angels to protect our children, teenagers, and young adults from the bondage that addiction brings. We pray that Your Will be done and that Your divine grace and intervention save lives. We pray that these deaths are not in vain and that raising awareness saves the lives of others suffering. We call on You to protect the parents, significant others, and children of those suffering from addiction and who are lost. We pray they return home to their families delivered. Holy Spirit, we ask that You bind the spirit of bondage and loose the Spirit of Liberty and the Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15). Bind us all to Perfect peace and Truth, release the Spirit of God in our neighborhoods, and connect our cords to Heaven. In Jesus' name, we pray and always will. Amen.

Scriptures: Romans 6:16 7:23 8:15 2 Peter 2:19 Hebrews 2:14-15 Luke 8:23 John 8:34 Acts 8:23 Proverbs 5:2 2 Timothy 2:26, Galatians 5:19-21, Matthew 7:20, Matthew 6:10 11:12 12:29 16:18 18:18 28:18