TOLEDO (May 12, 2016) — Called “Be-WISE-er”, the Gamma Eta Chapter at The University of Toledo presented an event on April 5 designed to bring awareness and combat substance abuse.
As college students, the chapter members set high goals of continuing their education, graduating and landing their dream jobs. They noticed an alarming increase in substance abuse reports around their city and campus over the past year. Their goal, to bring awareness to the entire community. They wanted everyone in attendance to consider the possible implications and think, “is this one night worth the risk?” Globally, people are dying, especially college students because they are not taking the right precautions while going out and having “fun”.
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Hoeflinger and Team Recovery were invited as keynote speakers for the event. The Hoeflinger family spoke about their son that lost his life on February 2, 2013 in Ottawa Hills. Team Recovery is an organization striving to help addicts find help and resources to get sober and fight Toledo’s heroin epidemic. The speakers hoped to share their experiences and try to show that their actions influence the lives of others.
In an interview with the University of Toledo, Natalie Zerucha of Gamma Eta said, “All it takes is one sip, one time and one night to end your world. We want all students to simply ‘be wiser’ about their choices.”
From the success of “Be-WISE-er” and the coverage from university and local news alike, the Gamma Eta Chapter is excited to continue the event on an annual basis and build on their efforts.