My name is Larry and this is a fundraiser for the Not An Accident Campaign, which is a project of the nonpropfit We Save Lifes in partnership with Stop Drug Homicide; a national alliance focused on reforming how preventable deaths are classified. It was created to challenge the way fentanyl and other preventable deaths are automatically labeled, counted, and minimized.

I proudly call this fundraiser The Cory Project. Through it, we are working to educate the public, support legislative reform, create awareness materials, develop graphics and outreach tools and help families understand why manner-of-death classification matters. The goal is a system that recognizes victims, supports families, and creates accurate records that can lead to better investigations, better policy, and better prevention.

Here is my story and why this fundraiser means so much to me and everyone involved:

My daughter Cory was 42 years old when she died from fentanyl. The system recorded her death as an “accident”.

She was loved and was also a mother, a sister, a friend, and a person whose life mattered. But Cory’s death was not an accident. Though that word may seem small, it carries enormous consequences. It shapes how deaths are counted, how they are investigated, how families are treated, and how public policy responds. When fentanyl deaths are automatically placed into the “accident” category, families are left fighting not only greif, but a system that too often refuses to recognize the role of the person who supplied the deadly drug.

What started as a fight for justice for my daughter Cory has become so much more than that. It’s about every family who has been told their loved one’s death was “just an accident”.

It’s about making sure these lives are counted correctly.

Thank you for supporting this work, sharing this campaign, and standing with families like mine who are asking for truth, dignity for the victims, accountability and change for the families who will come next.

Sincerely,

Larry Hatfield, Cory’s Dad

The Cory Project

Forever 42