By: Joseph L. Kuchie

SOUTH AMBOY – South Amboy’s city council and Mayor Fred Henry praised the recent “Fed Up!” overdose & opioid awareness event that was held at the South Amboy Senior Center on August 31st.

The event, put together by South Amboy resident Kim Seber and her team, was made to bring the community together to help cope with the loss of loved ones due to accidental overdose and teach residents about the ongoing opioid problem happening throughout the area. Opioids have tragically taken the lives of a number of New Jersey citizens, including 22-year-old South Amboy resident Jesse Flynn this past May.

The evening included a number of speakers from the city, tables with resources on how to get help, and a candle light vigil. Mayor Henry explained how powerful the event was and how important it is to continue the fight against the problem.

“It was a very emotional experience to hear people who were directly affected by someone either overdosing, committing suicide, whatever the case might be and hearing their stories,” Mayor Henry said. “This is a problem that is not going to go away by itself. We need to deal with it.”

These volunteers that were involved in this wish to continue having different types of meetings and we are very much on board in supporting them,” he continued. “There are obviously a lot of families that are affected, a lot of information that can be given out to these families and also to the people that are using. We want to help them and we’ll do our best to do so.”

“It was just so touching and I think the participation level, the vendors, the services that were brought out, the people that participated, it was hard to sit in that audience that night and not tear up,” Business Administrator Camille Tooker said. “I thought it went very well. I’d like to thank Kim Seber and all of her people.”

“It’s a problem that isn’t going away and is something we can’t give up on,” she added.

Councilwoman Zusette Dato and Councilman Donald Applegate were both not in attendance for the business meeting. The next city council meeting will be held on September 21st at 7:00 p.m.